It was the middle of the night, and most people were sleeping. Most did not include Lee, especially not after working at the bar for the evening. Which meant that Lee was where she was pretty much every night after the bar: at Blaine’s apartment.

What wasn’t so usual was that Lee was alone in the apartment. That, coupled with the energy surging around inside of her, had Lee feeling extremely antsy with nothing (or rather, noone) to distract herself. So Lee had turned on some upbeat music, one of her mixed CDs she had brought over, and started cleaning. Not that there was all that much to clean, Blaine did do a rather good job keeping his place clean, but there were certain things, like the coffee maker, and whatever was in the fridge that Blaine called leftovers, that he didn’t do so good a job with.

And so Lee was bopping around the apartment, singing along to the songs from her childhood, as she cleaned and waited for Blaine to get back.

It was...some ungodly hour of the night. What, three in the morning? Her plane had delayed, and they had to make a side stop somewhere in New Hampshire, and then she had to wait on that plane. And now, Skye found herself in a smelly cab with a creepy driver as they headed to an address that she could only pray was right. Every now and then, purple light flashed in the back seat of the cab, but she'd stuck her already gloved hands in her pockets in an attempt to hide it; and she guessed it worked because the driver never mentioned it.

Finally, they pulled up to an apartment building, and Skye paid the driver, dragging her bags just inside the door and parking them one by one before making her way up the stairs. No need in dragging them all up if this was the wrong place, after all. Finally, she found the correct apartment number, her hair still purple, and her hands pulsating with purple light as she took a breath, removing a glove to knock on the door, the purple light illuminating the hallway, though thankfully she managed to stave her nervousness off enough to keep from exploding. Taking deep breaths, the light died down to an occasional flicker, which was easier concealed by her gloves, which she'd put back on.

Then the door opened, and she looked mildly confused. "I...You aren't who I was..." Her purple hair deepened in tone just a little. "Does a Blaine Sinclaire live hear by any chance? He's my uncle and...I kinda need a place to stay..."

Lee was in the kitchen, wiping down the counter and stove, singing along to One Week when she heard a knock on the door. Lee frowned. Who in the world would be knocking on the door, especially at this time of night? Blaine had told her, a few times, that he never really had company, except for her now.

Still, Lee figured that she should probably answer the door. Wiping her hands off on a nearby towel, Lee made her way the short distance to the front door. Music still playing in the background, Lee hesitated just a moment while she ensured that she was still siphoning, that she could feel someone on the other side of the door. Then she lifted her hand and turned the lock (just the one, she hadn’t locked all of them when Blaine had left), and opened the door to see a young woman with purple hair standing there.

Lee’s frown deepened as she stood there looking at the confused girl. Before Lee was able to say anything, the purple haired girl spoke.

And asked if Blaine lived there.

The frown was still on Lee’s face as she nodded her head. ”He does,” She said slowly. ”What do you mean you’re his niece and need a place to stay?”

Skye rolled her eyes slightly, her gloved hands in her pocket flickering just enough to cause a faint glow as the strange woman asked a question. "I mean his brother knocked up my mom, and if I can't stay here I'm homeless?" she said, a little snippy, but she couldn't help it. It was three in the morning, she just got off a delayed flight, out of a smelly cab, on top of being nervous and exhausted. She sighed, then took a breath.

"Look, I haven't seen Uncle Blaine since I was like...five. Maybe six? But my dad thought maybe he could help me. Since we're the only two like us in the family..." her voice trailed off, but she didn't want to expound on that with this strange woman. As she thought on this, she looked at the floor, her hair turning from purple to blue.

Oh, the girl had a bit of an attitude. That was great, just what Lee needed, some sassy young woman knocking on the door to Blaine’s apartment at 3, 4 in the morning?

But, she had known Blaine’s name, had used it right off the bat when she asked if he lived there. And Lee thought she remembered that he said something about a niece. And, doing the math from the age the girl said she’d been the last time she’d seen Blaine, it did seem to match around when he said he’d been outed as a mutant in Vegas.

And then her hair changed from purple to blue, and Lee blinked. That was different.

Lee pulled the door open a little wider and stepped slightly to the side. ”Blaine’s out, but he should be back fairly soon,” Lee said, then tilted her head slightly in invitation. ”I can’t speak for him, but I do know the winter is no time to be homeless.”

Sighing again, she took a breath and stepped inside, checking out the...well rather small apartment. Then, she moved to the couch and plopped down with a small yawn. Her hair slowly turned from blue to a more mild purple as she cycled through emotions yet again, but that was to be expected seeing as how she was an eighteen year old female who'd never left the state of Maine before now, where she was all alone in New York City with some woman she'd never met and an uncle she hadn't seen since she was in first grade.

"Yeah...uh...my name's Skye, by the way," she murmured as she looked around the room. "So...are you Uncle Blaine's wife, or...I mean...if he lives here, but he's not here, and you are..." She paused a moment, shrugging lightly as a soft purple glow emerged from the inside of her jacket pockets. "Sorry, it's been a rough day. What I'm trying to say is what's your relationship to my uncle, if you don't mind me asking?"

The young woman entered the apartment and after a glance around plopped down heavily on the couch. Right, middle of the night. This whole working at the bar was throwing off her clock.

Closing and locking the door, Lee followed the girl into the living room to hear her introduce herself. And ask if she was Blaine’s wife. The last time she had been asked something like that by a member of her boyfriend’s family, she had been shocked almost speechless. This time, Lee simply shook her head as she walked around the the front of the couch. And saw a purple light that matched Skye’s hair coming from in her pockets.

”I’m Lee. And no, we’re not married. I’m his girlfriend,” Lee told her as she sat down as well. Then she frowned as she looked over at Skye before continued softly. ”Why did your dad send you away? Is it just because of that? Cause to be honest, your hair looks pretty awesome to me.”

She shook her head, biting her lip at the answer. "My parents...divorced. My mom wasn't happy when my...this..." She took her hands out of her pockets, then removed the gloves, the room lighting up in a purple light as the flickering was more prominent, "surfaced. My Dad was supportive, but as a defense attorney who often defended mutants....well, having a daughter who couldn't control her own powers kinda messed that up, and...I have trouble keeping jobs to help out. So I got this idea that maybe...maybe Uncle Blaine could help, somehow. My Dad did most of the legwork on this, actually..."

She looked at the floor, biting her lip. "My dad supports and loves me, but...he doesn't really understand, ya know?" She looked over at Lee with her big, brown eyes as she bit her lip again. Sure, she'd spilled a lot about herself, but...technically Lee was family, at least the way Skye saw it.

"So...you're my uncle's girlfriend," she said after awhile. "Do you mind if I call you Aunt Lee, or is that a no-go?" She asked giving a small smile as the light and the color in her hair began to fade a bit and she relaxed little by little.

Lee watched as Skye took her gloves off to show the light being emitted by her hands. And she nodded as she was told that her mother hadn’t ‘approved’ of her being a mutant. That was something that Lee knew all too well. But at least her father had been supportive, even if he was clueless.

Lee nodded again. ”I completely understand,” Lee told the younger woman. ”My parents all but locked me up when mine were discovered. Because that ever actually helps anything.”

But then Lee sat and thought for a moment, looking at the light coming from Skye’s hands. ”I can’t guarantee we’ll be successful, but we can definitely work on your powers, try to find some control for you.”

As she had finished speaking, Lee gave Skye a smile. A smile that changed into surprise at Skye’s next question. Aunt Lee? She had never even thought of herself being called that. She didn’t have any nieces or nephews, it was only Kevin. ”I…” Lee stammered slightly, a line between her eyebrows as she looked at Skye. ”You’d really want to call me that? I mean, we’re just dating.”

"It makes sense to me, anyway. As long as you don't plan on dumping him tomorrow, or anything," she replied with a small shrug, stifling another yawn.

"Yeah...my mom used to verbally abuse me just to get a rise out of me, then call the police because my power went...beyond the cute little light show you see right now. See, the more emotional I am, the more intense it gets. It won't shut off now because I'm in a new place. But my Dad divorced her for this and she still got the house, and custody of me. But when I turned seventeen I moved in with my dad, and...well, we tried. He was supportive, but we just...can't manage. So here I am..." She gave another nod.

"Well, the only way I can control it at the moment is to stifle my emotions, but...that's not hard to do," she said, bu as she spoke, she steadied her breathing, since she was relaxing, and the rest of the purple faded into brown as the light in the room disappeared. "See? That's the best I can do though, and this is only because I'm getting a little more comfortable."

Lee smiled slightly as she shook her head. ”No, I definitely am not planning on dumping him tomorrow,” Lee said, though it still confused her how calling her ‘aunt’ made sense. Though, maybe it didn’t make sense to Lee because she knew that her and Blaine’s relationship could still only be measured in weeks.

Lee’s smile turned into a frown as Skye explained how her mother had treated her after her powers had emerged. That was not right on so many levels. Though her own parents had neglected her, they had never actually abused her.

”Unfortunately, a lot of peoples’ powers become more intense with strong emotions,” Lee told her. And it was true, even now, even with how much more control over her powers she now had, Lee still siphoned more, and had more trouble controlling speed and strength, when she was mad.

”I’m truly sorry you had to go through that, but at least your dad cares,” Lee said.

Then Skye showed how she stifled her emotions to get her powers to turn off. Lee tilted her head with a slight smile. ”See? You’ve already got some control,” she told the younger woman. ”Of course, we’ll still work on controlling your powers without you having to do this, but that’ll be for another day. But do you want a coffee or something?”

"Yeah...the control part is what scares me. Under pressure, there's this flash of white light, and this loud bang. It's...pretty bad. I can handle the light show..." she murmured, settling into the couch. "He does; he cares about Uncle Blaine too, but my dad's family seems to have...communication problems. Like they don't know how to talk about taboo stuff like mutants and your family being one," she added with a shrug. "I'll have a soda, if you have any. Or water. I don't really do coffee..."

She looked over at Lee again, this time smiling. "Thanks, though. For keeping me company, and talking through this. I've never really had that...I'm starting to think this was a good idea, after all."

Lee couldn’t help the small smile when Skye said that a bright flash of light and loud bang was ‘pretty bad’. That was such an innocent and naive thought, and Lee couldn’t help but feel happy that despite the fact that she’d had problems with her family because of her powers, she thought that was so bad.

But then Skye said that her father cared about Blaine as well, and Lee’s smile turned happier. ”Your uncle will be happy to hear that,” Lee said. ”He’s been wondering about that, but you’re right, there seem to be some communication problems. Their men, though, so what can you really expect?” Lee laughed slightly with a shrug.

She didn’t do coffee? That was something that Lee didn’t really understand, how could you not drink coffee? But still Lee stood up and went to grab a couple cans of pop from the fridge.

When she returned, handing Skye her drink, Lee shrugged off her thanks. ”I wish I had someone like you have Blaine when I was your age,” Lee replied. ”Plus, if you’re going to be staying here, you’re going to have to put up with me, so it only makes sense to talk.”

"Yeah, but I haven't exactly heard from aunt Candace either, so I don't really know..." she murmured softly. Then she bit her lip a little. "I'm glad he still seems to be as cool as he was when I was little. I mean, there was really no way of knowing," she said with a shrug. Though she did rather like the fact that her uncle had a woman around that she could bond with. That made things a little less stressful for her.

About that moment, the door clicked open, and Blaine stepped inside, bags of groceries--and beer, all loaded on one arm. "Hey Lee, and..." he paused as he noticed the girl in the hoodie on his couch.

"Hey, Uncle Blaine...remember me?" A small smile formed on Blaine's face.

"Skylar Jade?"

The girl's hair turned purple at the mention of her full name. "It's...just Skye now, but yeah. I uh..kinda need a place to stay, if you don't mind me asking..."

He noticed the hair changing, and a slight pulse of light, but it didn't take him that long to realize that was probably why she needed a place to stay.

"Well...there's the couch...It's actually a pull-out, though I've never used it. It's yours as long as you need it," he said as he took the bags to the kitchen and started putting away the groceries. "If this is an extended stay, and if all those suitcases downstairs are yours, I'm assuming it is...I can probably pull a few strings and get you a job." he said from the kitchen, suddenly smiling as it sank in that Lee had been cleaning.

Then, he made his way back to the living area. "It's nice to see you after all these years. You're all grown up now. Last time I saw you, you were showing me how well you'd learned math."

Skye smiled slightly, her hair flickering from purple to more of a content indigo.

Lee shrugged with a smile when Skye said she was glad Blaine was still as cool as she remembered. ”Well, he has his moments,” she told the younger woman with a joking tone in her voice.

But then Lee heard the door open, and Lee looked over with a smile. ”Welcome back, hon,” Lee said in greeting. And then Blaine noticed the girl sitting beside her. And Skye asked if he remembered her.

At that point, Lee just sat back and listened as she sipped from her pop. This was their reunion, and considering the fact that things were going well, and they were talking, meant Lee didn’t feel any need to step in.

There were suitcases downstairs? Lee shook her head to herself slightly. She hadn’t even thought of that, despite the fact that Skye had said it had been her father who’d suggested she come here, and that she had nowhere else to go if Blaine wouldn’t let her stay there.

But seeing Skye’s nod that all the bags that were apparently down by the door outside were her’s, Lee casually set her can down on the table and stood up and slowly walked toward the door. She didn’t have her running shoes here, just her boots that night, so Lee slipped out the door as inconspicuous as possible. Lee knew Blaine didn’t like her ‘one-upping’ him as he called it, but she also knew that at that moment thanks to work, she would have more strength than him, and that he’d be getting tired even if he didn’t feel it.

So Lee made her way down the stairs. She didn’t think her absence would go unnoticed for long, so Lee quickly threw the backpack on then grabbed the rolling suitcase, which she assumed would be the heaviest, as well as another, and turned to head back up the stairs.