xp_logs | Cecilia & Garrison | Saturday afternoon

Cecilia returns to the mansion (which she's surprised to find she thinks of as home). Garrison's kind enough to update her on a few points.

Garrison Kane was entirely sure that the Xavier family had built the front drive to the mansion based entirely on how intimidating that they could make their manor seem. The circle was tight enough that cars had to crept around it, giving the occupants ample time to stare at the tall, cool grey stone walls and lines of ivy climbing the towers. He'd lost count of just how many faces he'd seen, peering out of the back windows of taxis, their mouths frozen in an 'o' shape as they took in the sight and questioned just what the hell had brought them to this place.

This cab, however, didn't carry the same look. Cecilia Reyes first tour of the mansion had come long before Kane's own. Still, he'd been requested to be the first blandly friendly face to greet her as she arrived. He suspected it was a rouse to make the people with superstrength tote all the luggage.

Even though she knew it was trite, Cecilia couldn't help but feel like the mansion looked smaller. It wasn't, of course (in fact, she had a hunch Professor X had expanded), and Cecilia knew the only reason she thought so was the remarkably different circumstances surrounding her return. A decade ago, when Alison Blaire's car pulled into the mansion's driveway, Cecilia had never seen a building like this. Sprawling grounds and stone masonry were, to say the least, a rarity in the South Bronx.

Back then, she'd been resentful and a bit sullen, but the Xavier estate had still shaken her. Alison had chattered on, oblivious to the wide-eyed doctor-to-be in her passenger's seat. Now, Alison was in Scotland, and Cecilia was here by choice. The site of vines and high walls comforted her in a way she hadn't quite expected.

It was a far cry from Honduras, anyway.

Cecilia's cab stopped, and she handed over some bills and then stepped out. As the driver removed her bags from the trunk, she set her eyes on the man in front of her. He was an unfamiliar face, which was as unnerving as it was expected. But at least he was close to her age. She'd have to thank whoever appointed the welcome committee for that.

Suddenly aware that they were now both sort of staring at each other, Cecilia finally smiled. (Was it her imagination, or was he checking out her cleavage? Probably just wishful thinking. God, she'd gotten old.)

“Hi,” she said, extending her hand. “I'm Cecilia.”

"Garrison Kane. I'm your honourary porter for today, it seems." He shook her hand firmly. With an ease that hinted to his powers, he easily hefted her bags and waved her towards the main doors. "The Professor is tied up for a little bit. He asked me to help you get settled in until he can finish up. Hopefully that's alright?"

She couldn't help but grin watching him virtually all of her worldly possessions with ease. Clearly she was back in Mutant Manor. "Of course," Cecilia told him, heading toward and then through the doors. The mansion's central staircase opened up before her, and suddenly everything came flooding back. Her arrival, her departure. The admitted killer in the basement. Late nights eating cookie dough with Shan.

"Wow," she murmured, and then keenly aware Garrison was watching her, she turned over her shoulder to glance at him. "New carpet?" She asked weakly.

"With this bunch, things get damaged and replaced more often than they should. Which reminds me - Cain Marko left the mansion a few years ago. Fred Dukes is the new groundskeeper, handy-man, and general custodian here these days. If you need anything, furniture or the like, just send him an email."

"Got it." She nodded. So Cain was gone too. This wasn't the homecoming (or whatever) she'd expected, but then why would it be. At least she could call Shan and talk about how weird she felt without ringing up long-distance charges. "Is the average here still hovering around 16?" Cecilia faced him and crossed her arms.

"You sure you don't want me to grab something?" She gave him a wry smile.

"Things have grown a little bit." He waved away her offers to help, heading up the main stairs towards the residential wings. "We've got about ten in the New Mutants program, a half dozen in the X-Corp offices, a dozen post grads and about twenty X-men and support staff wandering about. Which is why I work in the city, to be honest."

"Uh huh." She followed Garrison, occasionally looking at the walls to play a kind of before-and-after spot the difference game. "X-Corps?" It was quieter here, despite his assertions things had grown. Fewer students, maybe. Or better disciplined.

"Angelo's idea. Kind of an NGO for mutant related issues. They folded Red-X and HeliX into it. You might want to talk to him if you're interested in more doctoring than just the med-lab. Although I assume Doc McRedhead will be glad for the help."

"Doc McRe--oh," Cecilia's eyes widened, but only briefly. She'd heard from Xi'an that Jean Grey had come back from the dead, but she'd apparently buried that info somewhere in her mind. "Right, right. I'll have to get her to show me around." Well, she'd finally get to meet the phoenix. Ought to be interesting. She'd have to remember to control her thoughts.

"So, what's your story?" Suddenly she was reminded of something Garrison said. "Oh! What do you do in the city?" If it was a real, non-mutant, honest-to-god job, she'd be encouraged. Maybe she could be a real bonafide trauma surgeon, who just happened to live in a mutant sorority.

"I'm an Inspector for the RCMP, currently seconded to the FBI as a Special Agent in their New York Field Office." He said off-handedly, enjoying the reaction. "Yes, I'm a Mountie, eh."

"No. Way." Cecilia shook her head, grinning. "You sound like all the other americanos to me, cholo," she rattled off in the sounds of the South Bronx she'd long since tossed off. She grabbed a hair band from around her wrist and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. "Canada, eh? How do you feel a-boot being here?" She couldn't help herself.

"Been here about seven years now. There are worse places to be than New York if you're a Canadian. There's almost sensible gun control policies here." He stopped at one of the guest suites and opened the door with a flourish. "And here is Madam's room."

"So polite," Cecilia teased as she followed behind him. Here she was. Her home for however long. It was nice in the Xavier mansion fashion, and there was a hell of a lot more space than she'd had 10 years earlier. Finding anything like this in the city would be a struggle, she knew, and it made her wonder if this situation would become a little more permanent than expected. Back to the realm of mutants and magic and never knowing who could be listening into your thoughts. Only this time, she was here by her own will, and that would make the whole experience so different.

"I... thank you," she smiled at Garrison, who by now had dropped her bags. She knew she ought to unpack, but suddenly she was so tired. "Any guess when the Professor will be free? Or at least if I'll have time for a shower and a nap?"

"I think you're likely safe to grab a nap. I'll let him know you're here and getting settled in. Anything you need before I go and barricade myself into the Danger Room control room again?"

Ah, the Danger Room. Definitely back in Mutant Mansion. She shrugged. "I think I'll be okay." Her head turned from side-to-side, again taking in her surroundings. "Not like I don't know where things are," she pointed out, mostly for her own benefit. And then she glanced at the bags and smirked at him. "You expecting a tip?"

"Nah, you can buy me a beer at Harry's later." Kane gave her a grin before he turned and headed back down the hall.

"Sounds like a plan," she called out. Lord knew she needed a drink. Cecilia watched him go before beelining to a bed. It was all coming back to her - the killer in the basement, the dragons, planning Halloween costumes with Leong and Nga. It was more than she'd expected. After spending the last 8 years running, she hadn't thought anything could catch her.

But there'd be time to sort that out later. For now, she'd sleep.