The short walk to the garden was already enough for Katja to leave an impression of awe.

This mansion was huge; only her blurred vision when she had arrived had kept her from realizing. From the outside, the building complex had seemed ancient, with slightly neglected facades, but the furnishings consisting mostly of dark wood had a noble touch without coming across as too pretentious. The loving hand of a decorator seemed to leave fresh flowers in all corners regularly. Numerous pictures adorned the walls, some watercolor art, some drawings made by students who were probably still quite young. Katja also spotted a few photographs, both of various landscapes around the world and of dozens of children. Judging by the somewhat yellowed quality of some of the images, this institution must already have been existing for some time. For a boarding school, the manor seemed surprisingly inviting and cozy.

The young people they met along the way seemed accordingly relaxed. While Katja was being eyed curiously and Jean was being greeted with the necessary politeness but also open affection, no one addressed them. On some of the students, Katja noticed visible nonstandard physical traits. So many mutants in one place ...

She still hadn't quite got used to it, not even now that she was now one of these people. After the first of these encounters, she shyly lowered her gaze. She didn't want to be staring.

That way, she didn't really see where she was going though, either, and when a dark-haired little boy scurried by her particularly closely, they almost collided. When Katja turned her head apologetically, she startled quite a bit, because the boy stuck his tongue out at her cheekily ... a thick and dark green tongue, like a reptile's.

For a second, the sight honestly shocked Katja before she silently called herself to order. This was just another human being, just like her. And she didn't want to be treated differently because of her new powers either. That was how she had ended up here, after all. She forced herself to smile and wave at the kid, gestures that were returned by the little one with a surprised chuckle.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jean beside her nodding briefly, visibly pleased.

That was the right attitude, the only attitude, especially in a house like this. On the basketball court behind the house, too, where several mutants were caught up in a match, one looking more different than the other, no one earned a funny glance. Not even a boy with thick black fur and long, protruding fangs. This was not a place where anyone was being shut out. It was one where you could probably feel at home quickly once you had digested the fact that you were not wanted in your home country at the moment.

Katja began to breathe a little easier. It had been the right choice, she quickly realized, no matter what exactly would happen to her now. If she could find understanding and support somewhere, it was this place.

They stopped on an empty green area in the courtyard at last, and Jean encouragingly raised her hand at Katja.

Katja had become careful enough to take a few steps to the side and stretch her own hand far away from the other woman. She didn't feel exactly comfortable, now summoning this destructive phenomenon voluntarily even, but there seemed to be no one else around in the garden. So hopefully, this time, she could do no harm.

That lightning trick indeed worked effortlessly. A single thought of Fabian's arrogant grin was enough to conjure this mysterious power that Katja had been given out of nowhere.

"Fascinating." The way Jean looked at the forked burns in the grass seemed not only thoughtful but mostly suspiciously interested. "Next time we'll try that somewhere else, though, or the Professor will never let me hear the end of it. The garden is sacred to him. Is this all you can do?"

"Not entirely. Rain … Sadness." That was something Katja had figured out by now, based on all that had happened. It was in fact already drizzling lightly again.

She wasn't a bit surprised when it started to hail, as well. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, although she wasn't freezing the least bit. Her sense of coldness and warmth was also completely off since her mutation had happened. The things that made her shiver were entirely different ones. In a moment, she would have to tell Jean ... Maybe she was getting her hopes up too high. What if she would be sent away from here right again?

"And that is …?" Jean didn't even look for cover, even though the transparent grains were large and painful and scraped her skin. In a house like this, maybe, you got used to such things.

"Fear. Thunderstorms, that's my anger and hate. And when I'm feeling fine, the ozone hole probably grows," she added bitterly. "Haven't been able to test that yet, I'm afraid."

Jean didn't seem particularly shocked. Apparently, she had indeed seen far crazier things during her time as a doctor here. But that she did find these revelations extremely exciting for some reason was really impossible to miss now, the way she kept on staring at the traces in the ground and Katja's hands. "When has it begun?"

"I somehow got off to a late start."

For a moment, Katja was tempted to just keep quiet about what had triggered all this ... But what good would that be? At some point, the truth would have come out. In an institution like this, media reports about mutants were surely not only followed locally.

She took another deep breath and then told her story, even keeping herself together mostly.

It was only the memory of that one evening that she still couldn't cope with. "These people ... It was me who hurt them. How do you live with something like that?" She sank down on a bench at the edge of the lawn and once again hid her face in her hands as if that could help to hide from the world and especially from this woman who had been that nice so far and would now surely turn away from her. "I just can't get these images out of my head. If I had listened to Jubilee ..."

"Hardly anyone seeking us out for the first time does. The best lies, we always tell ourselves. Sometimes it takes a particularly painful kick in the ass to turn your whole life upside down. That, you've had now, and it was a comparatively mild one. Yes, it was, believe me. Those people might as well be six feet under right now."

Sitting down next to Katja, Jean fleetingly touched her arm. "Still. Your life will never be the same. You'll have to let that sink in before you can get on a new path. Until then, it's important to keep functioning. Giving up on yourself now won't help anyone. You can learn how to live a proper life again and be happy, and you deserve that as much as anyone else. The first step is ..."

Jean gently took Katja's wrists and pulled them down, forcing Katja to look at her. Her undimmed smile had the weight of an entire Alpine chain slip from Katja's heart. "... for you to try and accept that you couldn't help this thing with that bus. You've never had any dealings with mutants before. How could you know? Don't be so hard on yourself. The difference between responsibility and guilt is a factor called intent. You didn't mean to hurt anyone. It was an accident."

Katja tried to say something, but instead, the tears came back. This time, they were ones of relief. So maybe she did get a chance here ...

When the other woman put her arm around her shoulders this time, she didn't back away. She wouldn't hurt Jean, she trusted herself with that much control over her powers by now. "Thank you."

"Anytime. I just wish I could be of more help to you right now," Jean sighed.

"Professor Xavier, the head of this mansion, and Ororo Munroe, too, they are out for the day. They won't be back until tonight. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. The Professor is best suited to explain all this. And Ororo will probably be your most important contact for a while. Your mutations are related, albeit different in degree. Me, I have telepathic powers. Maybe I can at least help you find out more about this emotion thing. But we're not in a hurry. For now, listen to what the Professor will have to say to you. What you definitely need to learn, no matter what you're planning next, is how to focus your mind, to get your emotions under control, I can tell you that much already. Fortunately, this kind of mental discipline is something you can learn. Our mission in this house is to help people like you deal with their gift until they can eventually get by on their own. It's unusual for someone to mutate only as an adult, but it has been known to happen. If you don't mind most of the mutants here being a little younger, you're as welcome to stay here as any student."

"Then I owe you a lot." Katja gave Jean's hand a brief squeeze, the last of her worries regarding the next few weeks, perhaps months, erased for the moment.

"I didn't have a lot of good experiences with kids when I was in school myself, but that was a long time ago. Somehow, I've always been the outsider, you know? I guess that makes me belong here even more. And I wouldn't know where else to go anyway."

"That's how most of the people living with us feel. There's no one here who won't accept you, that much, I can promise you. It's bad enough the world doesn't care for us a lot." A hint of bitterness in Jean's dark eyes revealed how much this problem of people's intolerance bothered her.

"Enough of that. Next stop: Kitchen. Your body hasn't had any nutrients since took you off the needle last night. Are you tired at all?"

"Not exactly. I did sleep on the plane all night. Is there a library here? Maybe I can start reading up on this whole mental control thing."

Katja tried hard not to sound half as skeptical as she felt, the more she pondered this particular suggestion. Controlling her emotions ... How was that supposed to work? Was there anyone who even could?

"Don't rush anything." Jean shook her head leniently. "You've had enough excitement for the moment. Let's get you settled first. Your things are still in that rental car. We just had to move that a little, I hope you don't mind." That teasing, amused grin brightened some of that solemn aura that Jean radiated in spite of her amicability.

A sight charming enough not to get offended about being on the receiving end of that joke. "I promise, I can drive. At least when I'm not arriving in a strange place half-dead, with half a blister of pills in my blood."

Jean's smirk only grew. "I'm afraid you've earned your reputation with the mechanic here at the school for now. That piece of junk needs to go back to the airport, anyway but we'll better leave that to one of the teenagers until your paperwork has been sorted out. We'll find something else for you to do today. Have you been working with computers? You can have your own if you want. It's standard for all the students here."

Katja felt her stomach turn when she realized that she would actually have to rely on such charity for now. She didn't have any financial reserves, since that flight at the latest, and finding a job here in the U.S. right away was probably wishful thinking. Especially in her situation.

"That would help a lot. I got my job training in the office when sports didn't work out for me professionally. A PC gives me something to do. And I'd like to keep in touch with my mother, at least by e-mail ..."

Jean put her off. "That's the idea. The mutants here are given every opportunity to not lose contact with the outside world. I'll ask my partner Scott to hook your room up. He's our specialist when it comes to this kind of thing. Come on. Enough of experiments for now."

The downpour promptly subsided. Within seconds, it even ceased altogether. That one dark cloud that had hovered in the sky above Jean and Katja exclusively dissipated unusually quickly.

"Gotta remember that." Jean pointed her chin upward. "You're only affecting the weather right around you. Radius is roughly ten square yards, I'd say. That will be of significance once you learn how to use your powers for specific purposes. A gift doesn't just mean limitations. It has many wonderful aspects, and it offers chances."

"For example? Fucking up someone's wedding photos professionally?" The fact that she could make stupid jokes again probably meant Katja had caught herself for the time being. Enough crying for one day.

Jean didn't laugh; that thoughtfulness remained in her expression that almost made Katja feel like she was standing under one of the doctor's microscopes in the sickbay. "Or to save them, who knows? Looks like I might have cheered you up a bit."

Only now did Katja realize that right above their heads, there was suddenly bright sunshine. This time it wasn't a painful lump in her throat. Wonderful aspects, too, indeed. "That's one way to put it, that you people and this mansion probably saved my life."

Jean squeezed her shoulder silently, letting her know she knew how seriously Katja meant her words.

"Scott is giving driving lessons to some teenagers right now. I'll send him your way as soon as I see him. Can I leave you alone for a bit? Work is piling on my desk."

Jean paused in the doorway of the small but impeccably furnished room assigned to Katja and watched in satisfaction as she wolfed down the last remnants of a hastily made cheese sandwich with a surprisingly large appetite before tugging open the zipper of her suitcase.

"I'll be fine as long as I don't sit down. So far my gift only caused damage when I had too much time to brood." Katja was still agitated, but Jean had at least made her see that she didn't have to despair. There was still a future for her. Certainly not one without difficulties, but she had people who would catch her if she ever stumbled because of that rapid change in her body.

Whether she would manage to live permanently separated from her family and her home though, she couldn't tell. Not that she had a choice. She better sucked that up real quick. To her mother, Katja had just sent a text message to let her know where she was and that she was alright, but she had then switched her phone back to silent, ignoring the many missed calls the display showed. Katja did not yet dare to face her old life.

To the person she had to her new one to thank for, she also owed some notice, she suddenly realized with a startle. "Jean, where can I find Jubilee?"

"Jubilation Lee is who you're looking for." Jean rolled her eyes a little. "We've told her a hundred times to take answering the phone a little more seriously. Codenames have become common here soon after the institution was founded. Many of the students in particular use them to try to distance themselves from their actual identities and the bad memories that they bring. Jubilee is still a student here herself. She just fills in for our actual secretary every now and then who has fallen severely ill. She's in class right now. I'll leave her a note."

Gratefully, Katja turned back to the bag and took out her riding pants, shaking her head. Yep, she'd definitely been completely out of it by the time she'd been packing.

"Will you look at that," Jean let out, who had actually already started to leave. "Why didn't you say so, Katja?"

"What ...?"

"Put those on. If you need to kill time, I've got just the thing for you."

"I'm just going to trust you with that."

Katja didn't even lock the room, although Jean had given her a key. If someone wanted to get in somewhere in this house, they were sure to get in ... There was no doubt she would soon face many introduction rituals. And something about that thought had been bothering her the whole time already.

"Jean, do me a favor? Can you call me Flashwind?" Although that request felt plenty weird, like in a mediocre science fiction movie, she managed not to lower her eyes in embarrassment once more. After all, she was just trying to blend in ... And somehow, an additional name fit this new adventure that she'd just stumbled into completely unprepared.

Jean raised one of her finely plucked eyebrows. "Flashwind."

"Exactly." Again, Katja felt that hated heat flush in her cheeks. Turning insecure at the most inopportune moments was something she better got rid of quickly if she was going to live in a house full of teenagers. Otherwise, it would be her messed-up high school all over again after all.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one in this whole mansion without issues about her real name."

Katja shrugged. "I don't have a problem. But if any of you mispronounce 'Katja' like that one more time, I'll end up with a permanent eyelid twitch you'll have to treat."

"You're not wrong," Jean admitted, delighted. "Flashwind it is. Welcome to Mutant High."

"Take your pick."

With her mouth open, Katja stopped in the doorway that connected the mansion to what was a dream come true for horse lovers. At least 30 stalls, each with its own fenced mini paddock, containing horses of various breeds, one more beautiful than the other. Well, now she finally knew what those spacious meadows around the manor that she'd noticed on the drive here, were for.

"The Professor doesn't just rescue mutants, does he?"

Jean's expression suddenly darkened. She turned towards a curious, velvet nose that nudged her arm from one of the stalls and slipped the light-furred mare a carrot. "He can no longer get on horseback himself since he's had a riding accident, but breeding has always been a big hobby of his. Charles and I have something in common there. I used to teach the kids here how to ride when I was still in med school. Now there's no time."

That sounded resigned. Jean surely enjoyed her duties, but there seemed to be a few too many of them. "But I still get in here when I have a few minutes for myself. Maybe you've seen the farm next door. Most of us prefer going for rides, but we can use the grounds over there."

Katja vaguely did remember a second, far smaller property close to Mutant High. On the way there, she at least couldn't get lost. A good sense of direction wasn't exactly Katja's strong suit. "I think I'll go with the indoor gym for now, until I know the area. How much ...?"

Jean interrupted her before she had even properly started her sentence. "Benefits of the partnership between the two mansions. One thing to keep in mind from the start, and this is one of the most important ground rules around here: Never ask where the money is coming from. You need some, just tell the Professor or Scott. They'll set up an account for you tomorrow at the latest anyway, and it'll never be empty unless you're planning on jetting off to Fiji every weekend to party."

"I don't think so. I'd ruin every tourist's beach vacation with constant rain around me."

Katja tried in vain not to do the very thing she'd just been asked to stop: be curious about how the head of this mansion had come by so much wealth. None of her business; she would have to eat that particular crow for the moment. "I just don't like being dependent on anyone. Besides, I need to support my mother. Things are a little tight since my dad is no more. So far, I've always been able to sort that out myself somehow."

"Until you can do so again, we're here for you," Jean repeated, in a tone that allowed no arguing. "Sooner or later, every resident here finds some way to contribute anyway. There are enough jobs in Mutant High to do. But your physical and mental health has precedence, for now, Flashwind, just like the one of every other pupil here. If we didn't have that option, this place would long have stopped existing. That's all you need to know for the moment."

"I understand," Katja muttered, though she didn't understand anything.

"What was that about needless brooding?" Jean reminded her softly. "Try to stick to that, when you don't happen to have a lightning rod above your head. I do really need to get back to the lab. We've got a lot on our plate recently."

"It's fine. I think I can find my way back to my room on my own. Or, you know, I'll just check the map."

"Oh, the mansion isn't that big. Give it three days and you've seen it all," Jean commented. "Take care of yourself."

Along with dancing and the gym, riding had always been one of Katja's greatest passions; she'd just forgotten about it for a while. All the more, she enjoyed it now, grooming one of the horses without any pressure of time, before she led it to the other mansion by a small connecting road, to a huge indoor arena there, where one could easily have hosted two quadrilles at once.

It was amazing how easily the white Trakehner named Pharaoh was to handle, despite Katja's lack of practice in recent months, after she'd chosen him basically blind. Mostly because she had liked the name. Ancient Egypt had always been one of her favorite subjects in school. Now she that was suddenly living at one, that was maybe a good time to recall the few positive memories from back then.

It was definitely a more harmless subject than being nonstop aware of being stared at, and not only by other riders, because in spite of all efforts, rain showers in an otherwise clear sky kept on following you, again and again, drumming down on the roof. The closed building contained a café on the first floor from where guests, through a window, could watch the athletes like monkeys in a cage.

When Katja threw another unnerved glance up there, she noticed a young man with sunglasses who watched her especially intensively, like some particularly interesting museum piece.

She thrust her chin forward in defiance, not even considering turning away. At least that much self-confidence Jean had been able to give her back earlier, fortunately. Just because of what she was now, she would not make herself any smaller than her body was by nature anyway.

When the man caught her gaze, he stood up and left.

Katja grinned wryly. Small victories were better than nothing.

Her interest in any kind of social interaction was at an all-time low, especially here. What if mutants were outsiders here on this farm as well? Just tolerated, probably thanks to the Professor's financial support? Katja would have to deal with enough stupid remarks henceforth. She didn't feel ready for that yet.

As if Pharaoh sensed that Katja was once again threatening to lose herself in too heavy considerations, he suddenly made an unexpected leap to the side at the next corner. Ignoring Katja's leg aids, he avoided the walking rail in the sand with his head held high as if a red robin had frightened him that had been bold enough to land on the waist-high rail side fence.

Laughing, Katja patted the temperamental rascal's neck. "Of course, you need attention. Get on with it then. Get those legs up. Shuffling on the forehand is for the forest."

Focusing again helped. The small piece of sky that Katja could see through the roof hatches cleared back up. Which made this already Katja's favorite spot in the mansion, people staring at her or not. There was little that could cheer her up on bad days like her beloved four-legged friends.

It wasn't much, but at least she found her serenity back in these hours of normality.

"Can I help you?"

Katja almost had a heart attack when someone appeared behind her in the hallway unexpectedly where she was standing around quite helplessly, looking around, again and again, unable to choose a direction.

The student who had so cheekily snuck up on her was eighteen-something, blond, with striking light blue eyes. No unusual physical traits.

"Thanks, I almost got it. I think." She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the young man. "I'm still at war with the house. But now that I've made my way to the right floor, I'm determined not to give up."

"What's your room number?" The student was thinking a lot more practical than she was.

Of course, Katja didn't know that, that was the last thing she'd been paying attention to earlier.

"On this floor? We'll find that, come on. There aren't many staff rooms occupied right now. You're Flashwind, aren't you?"

"News seems to travel fast with you guys. And you are ...?"

"Bobby Drake. I've been here quite a while. At some point, you learn to pick up information where you can get it." Bobby shrugged briefly. "We'll be at least in mutant physics and mutant biology together, I guess. That's mandatory classes here, even for adult new residents. The Professor is a good teacher. Very patient," he added with a snort as Katja grimaced less than enthusiastically.

"Here, this must be it. That room was empty until yesterday, and the doors of the unoccupied ones are open."

Now Katja remembered. She'd noticed the painting on the wall next to the entrance earlier. A beautiful oil drawing of a unicorn. Her favorite mythical creature. Slowly she began to feel more and more comfortable.

"Thanks for saving my ass. I'll see you at school, I guess. I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Just like the rest of us. You'll be fine." When Bobby smiled that winningly, you could see the beautiful man he would be once his face would lose the last of youth. At a regular school, he would definitely have been every cheerleader's dream, and the jocks' as well. Sadly, mutants rarely got to enjoy such perks; Katja could guess that without much knowledge of that kind of life.

This time, the key from before was of good use, so that Katja could shut out the world at least for a while. She threw her jacket in the approximate direction of the bed and herself next, belly-down, boots and all. Suddenly she was very tired again after all. The next new experience, and this time a quite ordinary one called jet lag was thus also crossed off the list.

"You must be Flashwind," an unfamiliar, very amused voice sounded next to her.

Katja startled up so fast that she hit her head on the shelf above the bed. "Fuck!" She rubbed at the sore spot, trying to figure out to whom she'd just so unflatteringly shown her backside.

Only now did she notice that there was now a computer monitor on the desk in the corner.

Under said desk lay a young guy in the middle of a whole mountain of cables. It was the man from the farm café. A damn handsome man, Katja realized only now. Slightly tanned, dark hair, full lips, a well-trained but not too muscular upper body ... She couldn't see his eyes; they were still hidden behind those peculiar sunglasses. But judging from the rest of his appearance, they had to be black as night.

"Breathe. I don't bite." That grin was strange. It didn't look particularly friendly but rather distanced.

"Uh. Hi." About high time to tug her eyes back into their sockets.

Especially since Katja was pretty sure the guy had a ring on his left ring finger. One similar to the one Jean was wearing, to be exact. So partner had apparently not been a term for a business relationship ...

"Scott Summers. Or Cyclops. Whatever you prefer. We're good to go here." He got up with a smooth, extremely controlled movement reminding Katja of the ever-composed posture of her male training partners at the school gym. "Should be working. Turn it on."

Katja followed the request without shaking Scott's hand since he didn't offer it on his own. Whatever problem the guy had with her, they better remained at distance.

Online access was indeed established flawlessly. That also meant that Katja could now no longer put it off: She had to get in proper contact with her mother and at least get an idea of the German press regarding the accident, no matter how little she felt like it. She would have preferred to pull the plug right then and there. "Thanks."

"No problem." Scott packed up his tools without granting her another glance.

"Did I miss anything that I fucked up here already?" Katja asked, proud that she had dared to this time.

Scott's smile immediately looked a touch more genuine. "On the contrary. I guess it just pisses me off that you can handle my stallion better than I do. For your size, you've got quite a bit of strength in your body. He respects you, not everybody can do that. And the first couple of times, he had me eat half that sand in the arena. I can be disgustingly ambitious sometimes. Jean can tell you a story or two about that."

Katja blushed deeply. "Pharaoh, that's ...? I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"How could you? I don't get around enough to exercise him enough anyway. As I said, I was impressed. You look much better in the saddle than behind a wheel."

Of course, she'd had that coming. That was a running gag Katja would probably have to live with. If that would be her worst fate in this mansion, she would probably live.

Which didn't mean she had to surrender to the scorn of every half-baked macho crossing her path without a fight. "Why don't we talk about that once I've dusted you on a race track a couple of times?"

"Better not make any bets when you can only lose."

Scott sauntered to the door relatively unimpressed, a heavy leather jacket casually slung over his shoulder. "Storm called earlier. You ..."

"Storm ...?"

"Ororo Munroe. Can't go without an alias around here. Good thing, you're apparently quick at adapting." Was that mild scorn in Scott's voice again? "The Professor and her will be back around eight. Report in his office then."

"Sure." Katja was still slightly irritated. Something wasn't right between Scott and her. That tension remained. Or was she just imagining it, drained as she was?

"Cute dimples you got there, by the way." With that, Scott left, ending what was definitely the strangest of the many encounters of the third kind that day.