((OOC: I know the breakout's happening soon, and Lee's getting here a little late, so I'm not figuring this is going to be a very long thread. More to introduce her to at least one other person in the camp or something like that.))

IC:

Lee had not been in the camps very long, not at all. In fact, she had only been left on her own in the barracks barely a couple hours earlier. She had, however, been in the camps for quite a while longer than that, having to deal with the guards.

Thankfully, she was now alone in the barracks, with no guards around her. With no one around her, which Lee was extremely glad about, which normally would have been odd for her. No one around meant that there was no one for her to siphon from, and while the humans had been merciful and adjusted her collar so it wasn't constantly shocking her as she siphoned, Lee had discovered that the humans hadn't been that kind to her.

Even before getting the collar slapped around her neck, Lee had known that she had different levels of siphoning, knew that she could take energy at different rates. Such as when she touched people, which now set off the electric shock throughout her body. As it did, it appeared, when she was feeling very angry, scared, or hateful.

It was because of those last discoveries, the pain caused by her extreme emotions, that made Lee decide to curl up on a seemingly unclaimed bed after she had been left at the barracks and started to day dream. Negative extremes in emotion caused her to siphon more, but happier emotions appeared safe.

Safe from the collar, but not necessarily safe from pain. So Lee's day dreams were about Tarin, but not real memories, not things that had actually happened. Instead, to hold her anger back, Lee lay there thinking about the trip to Texas she and Tarin had been planing. Thought about a trip that was now never going to happen as silent tears ran down her cheeks.

Well, things could really only be so happy in a place like this.

Sneaking wasn't something easily doable these days. At least not sneaky-type sneaking, like sliding along walls or staying in the shadows-type sneaking. If you wanted to hide or do something, you'd better figure out how to do it in plain sight if you didn't want to get caught.

Neena had always been good about hiding in plain sight. And really, when you were constantly bumping into things, running into guards, tripping over your own feet, or just in general causing trouble, the Infirmary became a second home. And, naturally, being in the Doc's Office meant lots of bandages finding their way onto your body. And bandages made for wonderful "hide-in-plain-sight" tools. Currently she was toting around enough capsules to stock a street-corner convenience store, capsules that could be opened and emptied. And refilled.

How convenient....

Unfortunately, sometime those Infirmary visits were actually quite valid. A sneezing fit, followed by briefly scrambled vision, and the accompanying shock from her bracelet, reminded Neena why she disliked doctors. She headed back to the barracks, sniffling and grumbling to herself.

Just inside the door a sharp sneeze sent her vision spinning. She hissed a bit, and waited for the painful shock to pass before continuing inside.

"Ugh...." she groaned slightly, and rubbed her eyes. The small noise seemed to echo; the barracks were so empty lately. An air of depression seemed to hang since Shya's death, and those after her seemed to be even more heartbreaking. Even the unfazable dark-skinned teacher was beginning to feel the wear.

Abruptly Neena realized there was another person in the building. After another sneeze, vision scramble and shock, she also realized the girl was new. Curled on a bunk in the corner. And, as she drew nearer, crying.

Neena passed her own bunk by, and went to the furthest corner, where extra mattresses had been piled in a corner, some of them ripped and most of them stained. Several moments later she retrieved a tightly folded blanket from its hiding place.

"Here." She held out the bundle toward the new girl. She didn't look too much younger than Neena. "It gets kind of cold in here at night." She smiled a bit, then added. "Don't worry, it's clean. Washed it myself."

Lee was laying in the back of a pickup truck, Tarin's arm wrapped around her shoulders as they looked up at the stars. They had already been in Texas for a couple days, had done the meeting Tarin's mother thing, sharing the news of the engagement.

But that night was all about them. Just simply being together, not really doing anything at all. Just a night to be normal, to not have to worry about anything. It was her favourite kind of time to spend with Tarin, and with how he treated her, how he touched her, even just a simply touch on her hand or cheek, made Lee feel more normal than she had felt since she was a child.

"What do you say we put off going home for a couple days?" Tarin asked, his voice soft as his breath tickled her ear. "Maybe head up to Vegas?"

"Here. It gets kind of cold in here at night."

Lee jumped. She hadn't heard anyone come in, and Lee had been sure there wasn't anyone else in there when she entered. Wiping her eyes and sniffling slightly, Lee sat up to see another woman standing next to the bed holding a blanket out toward her.

Lee looked at the extended blanket for only a moment longer before she reached her hand out to take it, being more careful than she had almost ever been to make sure she didn't accidentally brush the other woman's hand.

"Thanks," Lee said softly. "I'm Lee." There really wasn't any point in hiding now, she had already been caught. Plus, this woman had given her a blanket, something that, based on how it was offered, wasn't all that easy to come by around here.

Still jumpy, and crying. Yep, definitely a new 'recruit'.

"Thanks. I'm Lee."

"Neena."

She felt another sneeze coming on, and quickly turned to avoid spraying Lee. It was bad enough the girl had joined them in this pit, she didn't need to worry about getting sick just yet.

Her vision didn't mix up this time, just watered, a small blessing.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I'd shake your hand, but I never believed in sharing colds."

She leaned on the bed post and crossed her arms. "Well, it's nice to meet you Lee, though not necessarily nice to see you in here." She smiled, to soften any offense the words might give. It was true; Neena didn't want to see anyone brought into this place.

"I hope at least the trip wasn't overly traumatic." That was sincere. The camps were going to be traumatic enough....

Lee was relieved when the woman, Neena she said her name was, didn't want to shake her hand because she was sick. That was perfectly fine with Lee. Lee wasn't exactly eager to feel the shock from the collar again any time soon.

"Don't worry," Lee replied. "I'm not big on the whole contact thing in general."

At that thought, Lee felt a pain in her chest. Before she had met Tarin, she had accepted that fact. She hadn't been happy about it, but she had accepted the fact that she'd have little to no physical contact during her life. Tarin had changed that, quite dramatically, but after just 6 short months, it was over. Any more contact from this point on would simply be painful.

But then Neena hoped that her 'trip' hadn't been too traumatic, at which Lee closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, not too bad," Lee admitted, her voice quiet, the defeated tone back from when she had been faced with the Stalker. "I went quietly when I was caught, so they didn't treat me too badly. The collar has been no picnic, though."

Lee paused, worried about telling Neena why it was so hard. Apparently the long weeks since the Registration Act had passed had had a much deeper impact than she had thought; simply because she was here, everyone knew she was a mutant already. There was really no reason to not tell people about her powers, especially since it might keep her fellow mutants from actually touching her.

"My powers are largely touch based," Lee continued after taking a deep breath. "The smallest touch, even just light brushing my fingers against your hand taking the blanket, would set the collar off, and none of the guards seem all that interested in simply giving verbal instructions..."

"Don't worry. I'm not big on the whole contact thing in general. No, not too bad. I went quietly when I was caught, so they didn't treat me too badly. The collar has been no picnic, though."

Neena nodded. "Yeah, I think most of the locals will bef turned off on fashion accessories for a while."

"My powers are largely touch based."

That made the older woman's smile disappear. She glanced around reflexively, and lowered her voice. "Do the guards know that?"

She didn't intend to come off as snappy. But if the guards found out that little tidbit, they could very easily make the poor girl's life nearly unbearable. A lot of the guards had grown bored, and with her being new, it would be like having a new toy to play with.

Lee closed her eyes and nodded the slightest bit as she heard Neena's worried question. "Some of them do, at least," she replied after a couple moments. "They seemed to prefer shoving me where they wanted me to go, and I wasn't exactly able to hide what the collar did to me."

As she spoke, Lee felt her anger rising again, the same anger she had felt toward the guards who had been herding her, pushing her, touching her, and everything else. The same anger that had caused her siphoning to increase, which only made the collar that much worse. And Neena was way too close, mere feet away from her leaning against the bed post.

Taking a deep breath, Lee created an image of Texas against her closed eyelids. Even if she hadn't been caught, that trip wouldn't have actually happened. But as long as she stayed away from thoughts about that last day she had been with Tarin, as long as she focused on future what-ifs rather than what had actually happened, it wasn't as bad. The emotional pain was going to be there regardless, and the feelings of loss and loneliness didn't seem to effect her powers the same way that anger and fear did.

"I'm sure the ones who were around me drew the connection," Lee finally continued in a whisper. "So yeah, most of them probably know by now..."

Lee's face and voice sent through a gambit of emotinos, all of which Neena had seen many times over the past months.

"They seemed to prefer shoving me where they wanted me to go, and I wasn't exactly able to hide what the collar did to me. I'm sure the ones who were around me drew the connection. So yeah, most of them probably know by now..."

The chocolate-skinned woman uttered a Swahili oath under her breath. "That's not good." She straighted and walked over to her own bunk, several rows down. After a few moments of fiddling with the mattress, she returned, and set two small rolls of bandaging next to Lee, careful to avoid touching her.

"If I were you, I'd wrap up any parts of yourself you don't want anyone touching, especially on purpose," she added with a meaningful eyebrow quirk. "It's not a great protection, but it might give you a bit of time to figure out another solution. And this," and she set another small bundle on the bed, about the size of a grapefruit, "is a survival kit. Sort of. The guards don't usually check the mattresses. The one under you," and she pointed to the bottom bunk, "has a nifty little hole underneath, near the head. Great for pack-ratting."

The bundle had been something Neena and a few of the first group Registered had come up with. It included small packets of painkillers and other medical supplies, two mini pepper-bombs, half of a granola bar, and few other essentials. Neena kept half a dozen of the little bundles scattered around the entire camp. Really the guards were very lax in their security, seemingly preferring to find ways of amusing themselves instead of watching their wards.

Another sneeze hit her, and forced her to pause for a moment while her vision and bracelet calmed down. She took off her dark glasses and and wiped her tearing, near-white eyes. Grumbling and sniffling, she leaned back against the bed post, respectfully staying out of contact range.

"You look pretty rough. You gonna be okay? Need to talk about anything?" Despite the bluntness, her expression showed that she did sympathize with the pain Lee seemed to be going through.

Other than something in a language Lee didn't understand, and saying that it wasn't good, Neena was quiet after Lee had said that as far as she knew, the guards all knew about her how touching effected her powers. Very quiet.

At least until Lee felt something set down beside her. Opening her eyes, Lee saw Neena just finishing setting down a couple small packages, being very careful not to actually touch her in the small space. Maybe if she had been more careful, kept everyone at a distance as she should have, she might not have ended up here; she would have been able to run, would have left New York, would have been able to keep running.

As she heard Neena's explanations about what it was that was now sitting on the bed beside, Lee couldn't help but feel touched. She knew that simply having a layer or two of cloth between her and someone didn't help much, the flow was still so much greater than when there was even just a half inch between. Yet, even though she knew that, and even though he had probably known it too, Lee had still insisted on Tarin wearing a long sleeved shirt any time they had spent the night in the same bed.

That thought made Lee frown, something it had never done before, but she forced her lips to curl up a bit as she looked up at Neena. "Thanks," she said softly. "I'll try it, hopefully it'll work."

Then Neena was sneezing again. But before Lee could say anything, well, really before she could come up with anything to say, Neena was looking over at her again, leaning against the bed post, and talking. Asked if she was going to be alright, if she needed to talk about anything.

Lee shrugged. What was there to really talk about? It wasn't as if she could change anything by talking about it. Not now, not here. "Thanks," Lee said again, though her voice had taken on a more dead quality, lacking in emotion. "But there's not really much to talk about. It's only a matter of time before something here kills me, whether the collar or the guards." Lee shrugged again, nonchalantly. "No use dwelling on it, and that's what talking would be."

"Thanks. I'll try it, hopefully it'll work."

She didn't sound convinced, so Neena added, "Well, if anything else would, just let me know. We'll see what we can do about it."

After Shya's murder, Neena was very cautious, even with the new arrivals. There had been several other 'suspicious' deaths around the camps that even inhumane living and working conditions couldn't explain. Some of the inmates were willing to play turncoat anyway, to make their lives at least a little bit more comfortable, but she didn't want to take the chance that the higher-ups had gotten smart, and planted a spy among the mutants.

But still, caution didn't trump manners.

"Thanks. But there's not really much to talk about. It's only a matter of time before something here kills me, whether the collar or the guards. No use dwelling on it, and that's what talking would be."

"Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine?" Neena snickered, and one corner of her mouth turned up in a grin. "Not even here a day and already talking about death sentances. That's gotta be a record. Were this bubbly on the outside?"

She paused, then sniffled as a sneeze threatened, then faded. "Well, I suppose if you want to go around with that attitude, yeah, you probably won't last long." She shrugged. "Personally I don't see what the fuss is all about. But then again, I've been told I don't see a lot of things." She tilted her head. "Care to enlighten me?"

She watched the girl's reaction closely.

Lee blinked at Neena's reaction to her comment about how things were going to end here for her. Sure, it wasn't exactly the brightest way of looking at things, but then again, this wasn't exactly the happiest place in the world.

Neena's question about whether she had been this 'bubbly' on the outside made Lee think, though. She hadn't thought she had been, but then again, Tarin had been frequently complaining about her paranoia, telling her it was going to be alright, to stop worrying. Maybe she had been this bad before, only hadn't realized it.

Maybe that was the reason...

Lee stopped those thoughts there. She didn't need to think about that, didn't need the anger those thoughts would bring back up to set off the collar again.

"A day?" Lee questioned, her eyes on Neena's face, the slight snicker there. She tried to keep her voice monotone, to keep the anger, the fear, out of not only her tone but also her body. "I knew this was going to be a death sentence from the moment I found out what the collars did.

"Enlighten you?" Lee asked, a frown crossing her face. "About what? How I know that I'm going to die here? You're worried for me because the guards know. Meaning they're going to hurt me like that, probably a lot, possibly enough for it to kill me. You might not even have to actually touch me for the collar to start up."

As Lee spoke, against her will or decision, her voice grew faster, more fervent, as she started losing grip on her emotions a bit. The fear, the anger, was starting to creep back in. "The only reason I'm not being shocked now is because they actually did something to my collar to stop it from doing that since my power is always working. But to be left completely alone...that could end up killing me just as surely as the torture could."

"A day? I knew this was going to be a death sentence from the moment I found out what the collars did."

Neena glanced off-handedly at her own fashion accessory while Lee ranted.

"Enlighten you? About what? How I know that I'm going to die here? You're worried for me because the guards know. Meaning they're going to hurt me like that, probably a lot, possibly enough for it to kill me. You might not even have to actually touch me for the collar to start up."

<"Oh?"> Neena filed that thought away for future use. Unconsiously she shifted her position so she was now across the isle, to give Lee just that much more space.

"The only reason I'm not being shocked now is because they actually did something to my collar to stop it from doing that since my power is always working. But to be left completely alone...that could end up killing me just as surely as the torture could."

Being a realist, Neena knew Lee could very well be right, and she just might die in the camps. She also knew arguing that point probably wouldn't be much help. So she took a different tack.

"Two things, Bright Eyes." Neena held up two fingers and ticked off the points as she spoke. "One? We all were handed a death sentence the moment we were born. Can't avoid that fact unfortunately, though most of humanity seems bent on trying. Two?" Her voice softened considerably. "Not being able to touch someone isn't what makes you lonely. You do that all on your own, kiddo, by pushing people away emotionally."

Then, in typical, Neena-fashion abruptness, a smile washed over her face.

"How good are you at poker?"

Perhaps a bit of confusion would help Lee calm herself down

Neena didn't say anything to her musing that the collar might start shocking her even without touching, simply by being too close. She already knew that was true, but that had also been when she had been very upset, or incredibly scared, which had seemingly greatly increased her siphoning.

But even without saying a word, Neena said more than enough. She had moved away, putting more distance between the two of them so that Lee wasn't siphoning as much energy from her. Lee's face fell slightly at that thought.

It took a few moments for Lee to realize that she had never actually told Neena what her powers were, simply that they were touched-based, and that they just might kick in at times without touching. But never once had Lee told Neena that she siphoned energy from people.

Neena was backing up, putting more space between them, to keep Lee from feeling pain, not because of what Lee was doing to her. That was a first for Lee, and she honestly wasn't sure what to think or feel about that.

When Neena did reply, she did so in a way that Lee wasn't expecting. Despite the softer tone in her second point, Neena had hit a sorer spot than she had with her first, harsher sounding comment.

But Lee was not going to think about that, was not going to think about how she had pushed Tarin away. Wouldn't think about how Tarin hadn't seemed to mind the limit on touching she had imposed, wouldn't think about how maybe she had been wrong, maybe it had ended up being too much for him; from the beginning of their relationship, she had wondered how he could deal with that, knowing how Tarin had been before they met. No, she wouldn't think about how if she hadn't gotten so paranoid in the last couple months, hadn't been so testy, maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to have another woman...

No, Lee most certainly would not think about any of that.

Lee didn't even notice how her eyes had dropped down to the bed in front of her. At least she didn't until her shot back up to look at Neena in confusion when the other woman asked about poker.

"Poker?" She asked, unable to not echo her previous thought. "Um," Lee continued somewhat slowly as she tried to figure out where Neena's mind was going. "I'm sorta alright, I guess."

"Poker? Um.... I'm sorta alright, I guess."

The confusion tactic worked, to judge from Lee's reaction. Still smiling, Neena again returned to her bunk, and came back with a well-worn deck of playing cards and a sack of pebbles.

"Ever play Texas Hold 'em?" She went ahead and dealt out a hand and split the pebbles. With only the two of them the games would be short, which was fine since they were just a distraction. She stayed at the foot of the bed, as far away as playing the game would allow.

"So Lee, would you mind filling me in on what's happening on the outside?" She flipped up the Ace and five of diamonds, and two of hearts. Her own deal was pocket 8's, a club and a heart. "We don't get too much news in here. Something about the guards wanting to think the world doesn't care about us." She tilted her head in thought. "Kind of an odd strategy, when you think about it. But I suppose it can be effective when properly used."

She turned just in time to sneeze again. She groaned.

"Ugh, just a second." She waited for the shock pain to pass, then shook her head. "Sorry. My mutation has to do with my sight. Thus the funny-colored eyes." She grinned goofily and winked. "Sneezing kind of scrambles my senses, and sets of the bracelet. It's a pain, no pun intended. I'll bet two."

She pushed two pebbles forward, and waited for Lee to answer and move.

Lee watched as Neena walked away yet again, a smile still on her face. Lee's confused frown only deepened as she watched Neena searching for something over by another bed, only to return a very short time later with what turned out to be a deck of cards and...pebbles?

That part was answered when Neena pushed half of the pebbles toward her and started dealing the cards. The fact that the other woman was sitting as far away as the bed would allow kept the frown on Lee's face, however.

"Never actually played it, but I've seen it enough," Lee answered quietly, carefully watching the cards. Many, many late nights had made sure of that; at least poker had been better than watching the same infomercials night after night when there hadn't been any half decent reruns on.

Neena continued, asking about news from the outside as she flipped cards over on the bed. Lee thought for a moment. What kind of news could she share that would actually be new? Other than simply large numbers and varieties of mutants living in hiding?

"The humans are starting to question things a bit," she said slowly as she peeked at her cards: a 3 of spades and king of hearts. "They're really not liking the Stalkers, and I think a number of them are starting to think the camps aren't the right thing, but I haven't heard of anything official..."

Lee trailed off here as she thought about a night, not that long ago, when she actually heard some news. But was it real? Lee stared at her cards as if contemplating whether to call Neena's bid while she actually thought about whether she should tell about what Rupert had told her and Tarin.

Lee ended up shaking her head at herself. This was certainly not the place to discuss it. Rupert hadn't been sure whether he'd actually go through with what was supposed to be his part of the plan; if it was made known at all, and he was removed, all the mutants in the camp would lose even that slim chance.

"Sorry, have a horrible hand," Lee said, tossing her cards in as an excuse for her head shake of a moment earlier. "Guess it's my deal, then." Reaching for the cards on the bed, Lee started shuffling, then glanced up at Neena briefly before dropping her eyes again.

"You don't have to stay that far away if you're just worried about my collar," Lee said in a whisper; the other woman had given a slight explaination of her powers, after all. "I was talking more about just within an inch or so. If it's my powers you're worried about," she continued, starting to deal the cards out as a slightly deeper frown crossed her face. "Well, I understand that. Wouldn't be the first time..."

Lee looked down at the cards: three and seven of hearts, and queen of spades showing. A quick peek revealed she had a four of spades and jack of hearts too.