Jean, Klaus and Belle walked down a massive hallway. Built in the style of Victorian era chapels, the hallways were tall, expansive and intricate in design. The stone walls and stained glass hinted at the age of the structure itself. The sound of their footsteps echoed far past them, colliding with the echoes of nurses and other occupants wandering about and moving from room to room. Jean added to the noise of the room by whispering to Klaus;

“I’m sorry about what happened,”

Klaus glanced down at Jean to see that he was still tense from the situation in the patient's room.

“No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for. It’s my fault for keeping this from you for so long,”

“Is it true what you said? About my mother?”

“Yes, I was with your mother when you were born,”

“Then what about my father?”

Klaus flinched at the question.

“It’s best we not talk about him. Let’s just say that he wasn’t the best man,”

Jean, deciding that it was best not to pry any further, switched the topic.

“So, this training, it’s supposed to prepare me to defend myself?”

“Yes, at least that’s the goal. There are far scarier things out there than the beast we saw earlier today,”

“You mean more powerful than that?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,”

“Huh…”

Klaus put his hands on Jean’s head and ruffled his hair.

“No matter what happens today, I’m going to be with you, every step of the way.”

Jean’s remaining worries began to slip away after hearing that. As they reached the end of the hallway, the sound of chattering began to grow louder. At the foot of the counter, two individuals wearing lab coats caught sight of the three walking down the hallway. Their faces lit up as they dashed towards Jean, Klaus and Belle. Seeing this, the three of them stopped to face them.

The man adjusted his glasses and grabbed one of Klaus’ hands, clasping it between his own. He made a very rapid introduction immediately after, as he shook Klaus’ hands vigorously.

“Hiya, so good’ta meetcha! Names Doctor Elton Brown, I’ll be conducting your boys test today!”

He let go of Klaus’ hand and walked over to Jean. He adjusted his spectacles once more and surveyed Jean’s body.

“You’re a lot smaller than I imagined,”

He brought his hands up to his chin and looked at Jean as if he was performing a mental analysis of his bodily functions. Immediately, the other person walked up and slapped the back of Dr. Elton Brown’s head. His supposed analysis was brought to a halt as he turned to face the individual who slapped him.

It was a lady. She wore her straight long dark hair down to her waist. She was clothed in a dark purple turtleneck and a tight black pencil skirt. Her lab coat was draped over her shoulders as her high-heels raised her slender figure up enough to keep the coat from grazing against the floor.

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“Apologies for my husbands hyper behavior, he has a tendency to get like this whenever he’s excited. My name is Evelynn Brown, pleased to meet you.”

It was clear by the tone and choice of speech that she came from a wealthy family. Her posture alone would help to provide proof of evidence for that presumption. As usual, the reach for a handshake approached Klaus first, then Jean. After a brief introduction, Belle interjected;

“These are the two individuals who are going to be assisting your physical assessments,”.

Doctor Evelynn Brown made eye-contact with Jean.

“We look forward to working with you, Jean. According to your initial physical data, you seem to be quite the genetic anomaly,”

Jean gave the doctor a puzzled look. But, before Doctor Evelynn could respond, Doctor Brown jumped in.

“Well, you see, unlike most humans, your genetic ‘potential’ has a unique structure to it that alters the entirety of your body's inner workings. From healing factor to physical strength, everything about your body significantly boosts those qualities. Now what parts of your body house those aspects? That’s what we’re here to find out,”

He stepped back as he crossed his arms and looked at his wife with a smile.

“As my husband said, you’re body is quite foreign to our field of study and we hope to find out more while also preparing you to enter the academy,”

Each doctor took one of Jean’s sides and stood by it. Doctor Evelynn placed her hand on my shoulder as she spoke;

“Klaus, Belle, are we good to take him to the testing lab?”

Klaus, who happened to just finish lighting a cigarette, responded as smoke curled out between his lips.

“Yeah that’s fine. I’ll be in the survey room Jean,”

He gave Jean a smile and a nod. Jean responded with a nod as the two doctors and began to lead him towards another hallway.

Once Belle assumed that the three were out of earshot, she turned to Klaus.

“I was informed the pill’s effect is wearing off quicker,”

Klaus tapped his cigarette, dropping bits of ash inside a nearby trash can.

“Yeah… I don’t think my body’s able to handle the load any longer,”

“Maybe you should quit the cancer sticks?”

“If I’m dying, I’m dying with nicotine in my system,”

Klaus took a seat on a nearby rest bench.

“You’ll realize what’s good for you if you want be alive long enough to see the kid be able to live without you,”

Klaus let out a heavy sigh as he leaned forward in the chair.

“I read my last physical report… In the grand scheme of things, me kicking the cigarettes won’t let me live any longer.”

There was a pause in the conversation before Klaus continued speaking.

“I never had that much time left. And looking back on it, I was so focused on keeping him safe through my own means, that I failed to see that I was only putting his life at greater risk. In the few couple years I have left, I’m going to make it count,”

Klaus took a drawn out drag from his cigarette. He let out a large plume of smoke as he put the cigarette out. He reached into his pocket to pull out his pack of Lark’s. He waved them in front of Belle’s face jokingly as he said;

“And it doesn’t involve these going away anytime soon,”

Klaus got up from the bench and started to walk towards the door labeled “Survey Room”

Belle rolled her eyes as she followed after Klaus.

“I hope Jean hasn’t picked up any of your bad habits,”

Klaus turned around, with his arms flared out and a smile on his face as he asked in a sarcastic tone;

“What bad habits?”

Belle gave Klaus an annoyed look as she responded;

“Like maybe not pissing off the person who's trying to help you,”

Klaus turned around and waved off the comment.

“Jean’s a good kid. Watch over him when I’m not here. I have a feeling things are going to start getting rowdy around here,”

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