This story has been on my mind and begging to be written for quite some time now. It's been at least a year since I wrote this first scene between Biology 2 and Aqueous Geochemistry. So, due to the longer chapters this story might have longer updates, but perhaps fewer chapters in the long run.

This story is slightly AU and I'm afraid you will have to figure some of it out as you go. The characters are mostly movieverse, since that is what I know best, but you will soon see that X2 and X3 haven't happened and Logan didn't leave. Things like that, since I didn't want to deal with angsty Scott nor a dead Professor X in this story. Others, yes. Not this one.

Many thanks to my beta Amodestpoet who has very impressive knowledge to all things Marvel and will be making sure I keep all the characters true.

Please, read and enjoy!

"So… What's your name?" He asked, words gruff and clipped as he stared her down.

She hesitated, debating on whether to give him her real name, or a fake one. Either option could make a difference. The difference.

"Emily." She decided.

Only time will tell if it was the right decision.

Nodding, he shook her hand. "Logan."

Her grasp was light and cool. Very 'touch and go', though her body language was not one of disgust or even open distrust. No, her body was calm or appeared to be. Her scent, however, was a different story. Her scent was tainted by an underlying fear.

Maybe she was afraid of what she could do, or because of whatever situation she was in. Logan had seen that often enough.

Maybe she was afraid of them and what they could do. That too, he'd seen.

Storm would figure that out.

First though, Emily needed to see the professor.

When Emily had knocked on the mansion door, she wasn't sure what she'd been thinking. It sure wasn't the same thing she was thinking at the end of the drive, and was not even the same as when the gates opened without any pre-emptive action. On her part, that is.

There was a… impulse not her own that she felt inclined to follow. Not seeing an immediate danger or problem with doing such, she walked up the path to the main door. Or what seemed like a main door.

The woman had just risen her hand to knock when it opened, startling both her and the man on the other side.

The man on the other side was not comforting in appearance, to say the least. He looked like he'd be a 'man's man' with his flannel shirt and wife beater, disheveled hair, and unshaven face. Oh, and of course one shouldn't forget the cigar hanging loosely from his lips. This man looked like a 'what you see is what you get' type.

Whatever, wherever it was, Emily liked this place already.

He asked her name and held out his hand. He had a firm grip and warm palms. As he turned to lead her to the 'Professor' she caught a whiff of him. Old Spice. Definite man's man.

Around the corner, Emily and Logan ran into another man. This one was much less of a man's man. This man was what Emily would call a 'casual gentleman'. He took time to make himself presentable, complete with a clean face and fashionable clothes.

Emily may not have been bothered by him, except for the fact his eyes were covered by red glasses. Frowning, she shook "Scott's" hand as Logan grudgingly introduced them.

Jokingly, Scoot said "I hope Logan hasn't been too rude, he can be a little rough around to edges."

"Don't worry" she replied. "I prefer people who put their only foot forward, instead of their best."

Both men looked startled. Scott covered up his discomfort by suggesting the two head to the professor's office, while Scott himself went back to his class. It was then Emily realized where she was. A school.

She was surprised and comforted to find out the place was a school. It should not have been a shock, since the building was absolutely huge, albeit a little bit of an atypical style for a school. Given the size, she would not be fazed to find there were lower levels or a basement also.

And Emily would bet lots of money the "professor's" office possessed the best window view.

Logan quickly led her to the office of the man she was supposed to meet. Emily tried not to be too obvious when scoping out the building's rooms and halls as they passed them, but she had a feeling not much slipped by Logan. Finally, and all too soon, Logan opened a door and with a jerk of his chin ushered her inside.

"Hello Emily." The man seated behind the desk said. "Please, have a seat." With a grandfatherly smile, he gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. She noticed he was seated in a wheel chair, and sure enough, the window behind him was quite large.

Settling into one, Emily noticed Logan moving to stand behind her as another person, a woman, walked in. Lots of people here, she thought. Hope this isn't the wrong way to go. Emily barely noted the woman's dark complexion and pale hair before she heard her name.

"Emily," the man in the wheelchair pulled her attention back to him. "My name is Professor Charles Xavier and I am the head of this school. Behind you stand Logan, whom you've met, and Ororo Monroe."

Emily turned her head to nod and smile at the woman standing off to the side.

"Welcome, Emily." Ororo said to her, smiling back.

"Now," Xavier began, "You have arrived at a school, as I am sure you have already discovered. This is a school for the gifted."

As he spoke, Emily sized him up. He lacked hair, but usually baldness was a personal preference not indicative of any distinct personality traits. He was clearly older, with more laugh lines than frown lines. The lines opened up already open eyes, leaving Emily without a reason to distrust him there. No, her only mark against him was the suit. Hard to trust a man in a suit.

"We are mutants." He explained, watching her reaction carefully.

Trying to not betray a reaction of any kind, Emily could not help but feel relief. Mutants. More likely to lie to protect themselves than to lie at all. Mutants are human and have their faults, but are better than anyone else.

She lifted her chin. "I'm afraid I'm only human, sir." She told him, testing the waters. Some mutants viewed themselves different, separate, superior.

Xavier leaned back at her statement, and Ororo shifted uncertainly beside her. She looked ready to speak, but once again it was the professor who addressed Emily.

"Are you certain of that, my dear?"

"Completely." She said, praying the lie of her answer to be no more perceivable to them as the air in front of their faces was visible.

Logan twitched behind her, and Emily barely contained the jerk of her tight shoulders, tension radiating off her as her mind came to the only conclusion available to her.

He knew.

Damn.

XMENXMENXMEN

"Well, that went great." Sarcasm laced Logan's voice as he turned back to the professor, away from the closing door.

Xavier chuckled. "I suppose not."

Logan snorted. "You would have gotten more information reading her." The lead into the obvious question "Why didn't you?" was clear.

"Revealing an invasion into her privacy is not a way to gain her trust." The professor told him. "As you might not know, women value security more than men do. Clearly she doesn't trust us." He paused, could feel the annoyance and offence rolling off the other man. "Logan, when you arrived here, you were not fearful. You trusted in your own abilities to get you out of this foreign place. I do not sense the same trust in her."

Logan nodded jerkily, and the professor sighed. The woman who had walked into his office sadly was not the woman Xavier had been expecting. It had been relatively easy to sense her walking down the road, even easier to apply suggestion and convince her to take the path to the front door. Finding out who she is? A much harder task, if he were to truly gain her trust.

"It's going to be fun finding information on her, when she won't even give you a last name." Logan said. Emily's flat out refusal to give the professor any personal information beyond her first name had been amusing to say the least. All she would admit to was being on the move without a place to stay. Of course the professor offered her a room, she took him up on his offer. For one night.

"Such is the price of patience." The professor responded, despite feeling much the same as Logan.

Logan grunted. "She doesn't have a bag."

"Correct. Your point is?"

He grunted again. "Not normal for a woman to not have a bag. 'Specially if she's on the move."

The professor merely replied "She will be provided with what she needs."

"You sure she even needs help? She seems pretty comfortable on her own."

By now, Xavier knew what Logan was getting at. "She wouldn't be here if she hadn't needed some sort of help. We merely have yet to discover what it is."

Logan nearly groaned, but realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with the professor. "What about her saying she's not a mutant? She got awfully jumpy right around then, and sure as heck didn't like me standing behind her anymore." Logan barely kept himself from sounding offended. Barely.

Raising a hand to his temple, Xavier had to admit to himself Logan was right. "She was comfortable enough with Storm, so we will just have to wait and see."

"And?"

"And I do not know. I believe she believes she's human. However I also do not believe what she believes. Until such time as is proven otherwise, I will accept what little she told us as the truth."

"So you're thinking this will be a long term deal?"

"I am hoping to convince her to stay with us longer." The professor admitted.

"You gonna tell her about the Xmen? She's too old to be a student here so you can't distract her with school work." Logan paused, debating whether or not to tell Xavier about how she checked out the mansion and his suspicions that she'd find the lower level before long.

"I'm sure we will think of something." Xavier said. "I want to give her a day to settle in, if she wants. Then I'll decide." He didn't say anything more.

Seeing he had no further reason to stay, Logan left Xavier's office. As soon as he did, the professor delicately set his head in his hands, fighting a headache which began to bloom ever since Emily left the room. While all the professor told Logan was true, he'd failed to tell the man one thing.

Xavier had tried to read the woman.

XMENXMENXMEN

Following closely, Emily tried to keep from frowning. There were a lot of kids here. A lot. She wondered how they managed to house and feed them all. Class had let out as Emily was led to the room she'd be staying in for the night and students filled the halls as they hurried to their next class. Most ignored her, though a couple nodded at her and greeted "Ms. Monroe".

Apparently Ororo was a teacher here. Emily vaguely wondered what subject, but didn't dwell on the topic for long as the woman picked up her pace. "I'm sorry to rush, but my free period was last period and I have a class in three minutes."

"It's fine." Emily told her. "I understand."

The other woman flashed a quick and grateful smile before leading her up the stairs. A couple turns later, and Ororo finally opened a door. Emily couldn't help, but feel a little blown by the size of the place.

"Ms. Monroe, have any students ever gotten lost? This school is quite large." Emily said.

She smiled. "First, you don't have to call me Ms. Monroe, you aren't a student here. You can call me Ororo, or even Storm."

"Storm?" Emily asked, curious.

"I can control the weather, to an extent. Some call me a weather witch."

Understanding lit up Emily's face, and she nodded. "That's neat. So, since there was a first, I'm assuming there's a second?"

Storm grinned. "There's a reason we have a 'buddy system' for new students."

Emily laughed. "Makes sense." She said. Then Emily looked around the room. It was simply furnished with a bed, nightstand and lamp, and a dresser. There were two doors, most likely a closet and a bathroom. The room was not particularly large either. About the same size as an average hotel room. "This is very kind of the professor, to let me stay here for the night." She turned to Storm, who was back in the doorway. "I'm sure he really doesn't have the room to spare."

"There's always room for more, most of the students share rooms anyways. This just happens to be one of the few empty rooms we have in the teachers' wing." Storm told her.

"Oh." Emily said. "Do all the teachers live here?"

Nodding, Storm said "At this point in time, yes. It's easier than living off the school's campus." She gestured to her left. "My room is right down the hall, as are the other teachers." Then she hesitated before gently asking, "What do you need? You didn't arrive with a bag, but someone can bring you a spare change of clothes if you'd like to bathe. I'll even have what you are wearing washed."

Looking down at herself, Emily realized she hadn't cleaned the clothes she was in for a couple days, and as a result her outfit was looking rather well worn. The soil stains on her knees and backside didn't help any, either. Getting her clothes washed would be great, as would a spare change of clothes. As to the matter of not having a bag…

Emily looked back up at Storm. "If you don't mind, that would be great. Being clean would be amazing."

"I know how you feel. I'll have one of the others bring you what you need. I have to get to class." Storm disappeared from the doorway, only to pop her head back in. "Oh, are you hungry? Dinner is at six, but the kitchen is open if you would like something to eat."

"Sure," Emily said. "Anything is good. Point me in the right direction and I can fix something for myself."

"Nonsense. We have enough lazy bodies around here to do the work." And Storm disappeared again.

Emily waited a moment to see if she would reappear, but she didn't. Sitting down on the bed, Emily tried to wrap her head around this new development. She'd been here for a short time, yet she already felt comfortable.

That comfort bothered her because there was no denying to the fact there are too many people here and she had been seen by too many kids. It was too late to do anything though. Too late to do anything, but wonder if she'll regret this decision at a later date. It's only one night, one night with a comfortable bed and a clean bathroom. One night surrounded by too many people and then she'll be on her way in the morning.

She lay back on the bed, one arm above her head, the other laying lightly beside her. Emily thought about being back on the road in the morning, thought about where the next closest town was. Maybe I'll pack a meal or two, before I go.

She never noticed falling asleep.

Jean shook her head from the open doorway. Since Jean had the time, Storm had asked her to bring their new guest a pair of the school's sweats. Kitty was coming up shortly with a light lunch.

So, arms laden with a couple pairs of sweats in differing sizes, Jean arrived at the room's open door to see said guest half sprawled out on the bed in the glory of unconsciousness. The woman had one arm flung behind her and both feet still planted on the floor. Taking in the state of her worn blouse and jeans, Jean realized that when Storm had said the woman was thin, she'd been under exaggerating. The woman was incredibly thin and toned, lacking in much of her body fat. The bags under her eyes gave away the lack of sleep from her travels and her hair was pulled back tight.

Jean decided to leave the change of clothes with the young woman, but not disturb her. She looked like she could use the rest and recuperation.

Stepping quietly, Jean carefully laid the clothing on the nightstand. Turning, Jean began to creep out of the room, when a sleepy voice spoke up behind her.

"Don't bother, I'm awake." Emily sat up slowly.

Jean winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Emily shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I needed to wake up anyways." She turned and saw the clothes sitting on the nightstand.

"There are a couple pairs in that stack. Storm wasn't sure what size you are, so I decided to just let you figure that out." Jean told her. "I'm Jean, by the way."

Emily picked up one of the sweatshirts on the top of the pile. Spread across the front of the shirt was a large X. Underneath in smaller print was "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters". Smirking, Emily refolded the shirt and turned to Jean. "Thank you."

Jean smiled also and then informed her, "There's also a small pouch between the pairs of sweats. It has just a few basic toiletries. The rest of what you need is in the bathroom." She gestured to one of the doors in the room. "Kitty, one of the girls, will be up soon with some lunch, that way you don't have to face the masses in the kitchen until you've had a chance to get settled in."

"I appreciate that very much. Thank you again."

Jean nodded. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask someone." At Emily's nod, Jean turned and left the room.

As soon as the red head was gone, Emily's shoulders drooped, her good demeanor gone. Exhaustion pricked at her, telling her she's been pushing it too hard these last few days. She needed to find better places to sleep. Emily sighed and attempted to run a hand through her hair, pulling out the tie she had it in, only to have her hand catch on one of the many snags.

Grabbing the bag Jean had left with toiletries, the brunette was relieved to find a comb and conditioner. Both would be well used tonight. As would the toothbrush and tooth paste. And the deodorant.

"Eh, hm" Someone coughed from the door way. Emily looked up to see an older teen standing there. "Excuse me, are you Emily?" The girl was holding a tray.

"Yes, I am." She waved the girl into the room. "You must be Kitty, right? Jean mentioned you'd be coming by."

"Yeah, I'm Kitty." The girl stepped into the room, and eased the tray onto the bed. "I haven't brought much, but dinner will be in a couple hours."

Looking over the contents of the tray, Emily told her "This is perfect. Really." And it was. On the tray was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, accompanied by an apple and a glass of milk.

When she was met with silence, Emily looked up. The girl was staring at her intensely, curiosity visibly burning behind her brown eyes. "Yes?" Emily asked warily.

"So," the girl started. "Are you like, a friend of Storm's or something?"

"Not really."

"Then you're a friend of Jean's?" The girl asked.

"No," Emily told her. "I'm just a guest of the professor's." She prayed that was the right thing to say.

It seemed to be. Kitty just frowned and said "Oh." She shrugged. "That makes sense, I guess."

She stood there awkwardly until Emily couldn't stand it anymore and decided to throw the girl a bone. "So you like going to school here?"

"Oh yeah." Kitty told her, face lighting up as she sat down on bed.

Emily pulled the tray towards herself and dug into the sandwich. She gestured with her hands to keep the girl talking. Part of her thought encouraging the conversation to be a poor idea, while the rest of her wondered at the harm.

Kitty started talking "Well, I'm into computer sciences, but a lot more than that goes on around here. Like, Mr. Summers teaches shop and math and stuff like that. Storm, or Ms. Monroe teaches sciences and like, biology. Logan does mainly defense, or subs here and there. And Piotr teaches art classes." Kitty paused to take a breath before launching further into the schools activities. "And of course, we like, always train. You know it's a bad idea to have untrained mutants running around, that's what really gives us the bad name, that and the Brotherhood." She rolled her eyes for effect. "Anyways, some of these kids around here really need the help and the professor, I don't know, but he always just seems to know what to do or to say."

Kitty continued talking, mainly about other students and such, so Emily didn't pay too close attention. The girl was talkative, but without loose lips. A smart girl. Emily quickly finished her sandwich and soon all she had left was her apple.

Suddenly Kitty squeaked. "Oh my goodness, I've been here too long. Storm needed me to do some other things, and here I am chatting away." She jumped up and grabbed the now empty tray and dishes. "I'll um, see you tonight at dinner? Then you'll meet some of the others I told you about."

The brunette still seated on the bed barely got a chance to nod her head before the younger of the two bounced out of the room, tray in her hands.

Emily shut the door after Kitty left, collected what Jean left for her, and checked the time. She had just enough time to get cleaned up before dinner. Hopefully, they wouldn't mind her casual state of dress.

The unfortunate thing about showers though, is there isn't enough to do to take up the entirety of thought. Shampooing one's hair isn't exactly a rocket science. The result was as Emily's tension began to ebb under the hot water, her mind also began to wander.

She chewed her lip. Dinner with the masses was a slightly foreboding thought. She could care less about her appearance, and was grateful for the change of clothes. She was even more grateful for the small comforts provided by living under a roof. The only problem was that she didn't want to make any bigger waves than she already had. With Kitty's highly friendly attitude, Emily wouldn't be surprised if she was introduced to the majority of the student body tonight.

Emily thought back to how she arrived here, at the school. She thought of meeting the professor… and she thought of how he knew her name.

Emily frowned. He'd never asked her name. Xavier just called her Emily from the moment she walked into his office. No one asked why she was there either. Never a "Hey who are you?" or even a "Haven't seen you before, you new to town?" At least, not until Kitty asked. A student that's likely often kept out of the loop, yet none of the faculty asked. Why?

Sure, she'd been asked about how she was traveling and about where she was going. Emily had gotten the feeling that he was willing to offer her a ride, but she wasn't ready to buy into it. She wasn't even sure why she accepted his offer of a one night stay.

As she continued to evaluate the situation, Emily realized that the events starting a mere two hours earlier had never stood out as strange to her. First the impulse to walk up the path, then the willingness to stay here, in a school of all places; none of it had seemed strange at the time. Not one bit.

This realization struck her cold and she began to shake. A thousand thoughts and fears began to flood her mind. There were too many uncertainties to the situation, too many unknown variables. The hot water no longer felt even slightly warm as she quickly rinsed off. She turned the water off and dressed as fast as she could, before she sat herself down on the bed.

Dinner no longer seemed even remotely appealing.

A/N: So, who is "Emily"?

Please, read and review!

- Spirit