Lee was curled up on side of the couch in her brother's apartment. The same couch that had doubled as her bed for the last couple of nights, since she had moved out of Tarin's apartment. Yes, she had actually moved out, even though she now knew that she had been wrong, that there had been nothing going on that day in the shop, that day that seemed so long ago, but wasn't even a month in the past. There were other reasons why Lee felt she couldn't stay with Tarin, a large one being the merge. Lee now understood what Tarin meant when he said even though it wasn't him doing things during a merge, it was still his fault. People had died. She, well, the merged thing had killed them, and not simply in defense or escape, but had actually gone looking for guards, and then tortured them before killing them. Tarin had told her before, when he had been explaining the merging to her before she had ever witnessed it, that he was a killer, that he had killed people while he had merged. But he had never wanted that, it had just happened. Lee had wanted the guards dead, or at least to suffer for what they had done, not only to her but to the other camp inmates as well. What did that make her?

That was something Lee hadn't been able to figure out in the four days, 99 hours, give or take, that she had been awake at the labs after the breakout. Four days she had been awake because of what else she had done to Tarin, all the energy she had taken from him during the merge. So much more energy than she had ever willingly been offered. Thinking back on it, Lee was amazed that Tarin had been even as conscious as he had been right after the merge. The only thing Lee was able to come up with to explain it was Tarin's stubornness, that same stubornness that had gotten just about everything else in their relationship to happen.

But at least Lee was able to sleep again. She didn't like staying up all night, it gave her too much time to think, to worry, to brood. Even if these days sleep brought with it nightmares almost every night, Lee still preferred sleep.

”How about we go grab a movie tomorrow or something? What do you say, Em?”

Lee jumped slightly, startled out of her thoughts by her brother's words. “What?” Lee asked, looking over to see Robert walking back into the livingroom wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt, carrying a bag of nachos and a couple cans of coke in his hand. Customary hockey night attire, and his normal second period snack. But he hadn't actually spoken to her since he had asked about watching the game with him that night.

”You know, a movie?” Robert explained, his voice almost exhasberated, though a smile grew on his face as he plopped back down on the couch to get comfortable before the intermission ended. Then he held out one of the cans to her. “Here. And I've found this old theatre that puts the one back home to shame. I think they're even showing Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Lee took the offered pop, then turned her eyes back to the television, only to find an annoying commercial playing. So far, at least since she had done the move, Lee had avoided going outside at all costs. She hadn't been completely successful at that all the time since Robert had needed to go to school to get some work done, so Lee had been forced to leave the apartment to simply get some energy, but whenever she had been able to she had been inside, watching TV and trying not to think. “I don't know, Robert,” Lee said quietly. “I was thinking of going for a run tomorrow.”

”You know you can do more than one thing a day, Emily,” Robert said, a hint of annoyance entering his voice.

“And you know I hate that name,” Lee replied, her eyes narrowing into a slight glare though she kept her eyes on the television. “I'm letting you get away with calling me 'Em', so don't push it.” Otherwise, she ignored what her brother had said.

”Damn it, Emily,” Robert said, turning to face his sister, apparently not having paid attention to her comment about her name. “You've got to move on. At least start to. That means going out, doing things, getting a job. You're the one who left him, Em, so leave him already. Stop brooding and moping. He wasn't good for you-”

“Don't even start on that again,” Lee told Robert harshly, actually turning her glare on him this time. “I'm not in the mood for your 'I-told-you-so's, especially since you'd know he wasn't anything like you thought if you even once listened to me about him. And I have left him. Remember, the last time I ended up here wasn't by my choice.”

Not that this had really been her choice either, really, Lee thought. It was simply the better option compared to ending up on the streets again until she could come up with another apartment for herself. Though at least she had ended up here of her own accord this time, unlike in December when Tarin had dropped her off, passed out and with a broken collar bone, before running off to Maine to keep her 'safe'.

“And don't pretend that you know me,” Lee continued, turning her eyes back to the television. “I'm not some 12 year old girl who needs her big brother's protection any more. Anything you'd actually be able to protect me from, I'd be able to take care of before you find out.”

”Maybe if you'd actually open up, rather than snap at me every time I speak, I could get to know you,” Robert snapped back. “I know what happened back home sucked, but I want to make things right. I'm trying, can't you at least meet me half way?”

Lee felt her heart stutter slightly at that comment. It was the same thing Tarin had asked her when she had been paranoid and freaking out about the Registration Act, to try, to meet him part way because he couldn't do it all himself. She knew that Robert would have no way of knowing that, but it was still painful. “Your game's back on,” Lee ended up settling on, trying to change the subject, or even better put it on hold till the next intermission and hopefully Robert would have forgotten about it by then.

“Woah, wait a minute,” Lee said, sitting up straighter on the couch as she starred at the TV. “The Leafs are actually up by three after the first?”

Robert had turned back to the television when Emily pointed out the fact that the game was back on. Yes, what they had been talking about was important, but it wasn't something that couldn't wait till a commercial. At least that's what Robert was thinking until he heard his sister's shock that the Leafs were winning. “What? You mean you sat through an entire period, but didn't watch any of the game?” Robert asked her, his tone incredulous. “Come on, Em! I know you like hockey. I thought you were going to watch the game with me?”

Lee shrugged as she glanced over at her brother. “I was thinking,” she told him simply.

”Well watch then, Em,” Robert told Emily. “It's a great game so far.”

Lee heaved a dramatic sigh and turned back to the television to see the puck flying down the ice. “Fine,” she told him. Watching the game would be so much more preferable than having Robert try and talk to her about what he had been. That's why she had agreed in the first place, but even if it meant actually watching the game instead of simply pretending to, it was still the better option.

((OOC: Script's involvement was arranged at the time of Lee's capture and subsequent imprisonment in the camp. However, the details of that involvement have needed to be altered slightly to allow for his disappearance. But, Lee needs something that he has, so I still have to work with it as best I can.))

~ The next day

The upside of going to the movies with Robert was that she had run into David, who, by some strange stroke of luck, had seen her be captured by the Stalker, had grabbed her dropped purse, and had managed not to get caught himself. And apparently, he had tried to tell Tarin what had happened, tried to take him her purse, but every time he had gone by the shop, it had been locked up tight, and if he was in there, Tarin hadn't answered the door. Without knowing where they actually lived, which wasn't exactly easy to find out since Lee hadn't changed any of her ID since long before she had left Canada, there hadn't been a whole lot David had been able to do.

Thankfully though, David had gotten her purse, and Lee now had it back. That was one worry off her shoulders: how to get a replacement Canadian passport when she had been in the States illegally for over a year. Yeah, that would not have been a fun task.

The downside of the movie adventure had been the fact that Robert wanted to go get food after the show. Lee wasn't exactly fond of that idea. Yes, the Registration Act had been repealed before she had been allowed to leave the Labs after the breakout, ruled as unconstitutional, or something, but that didn't mean Lee was feeling all that comfortable wandering around the streets of New York yet. Plus, the chances that she might run into him increased the longer she was out.

The problem was, Lee couldn't deny the fact that she was hungry. Lee wasn't exactly the best cook in the world, though, and she didn't exactly always trust her brother's concoctions either.

“We never used to go for food after the movies,” Lee pointed out to Robert as they walked. She hoped that would put a bit of a damper on him and they'd just grab a pizza or something before heading back to his apartment. Robert had pushed the movie as a way of getting back to how things had been before they knew about her powers so things could be a bit more normal and natural for them again. Maybe this would kill the idea of going out for food.

”Because we always had food waiting at home for us,” Robert pointed out the difference. “And we've got more money now to afford it.” Seeing the look Emily had directed at him at those words, Robert corrected himself. “Well, that I've got more money at the moment. You will once you get another job.”

Yeah, Lee thought. Like I'm ever going to have more money than simply enough to live on again. Not with how much I'm going to owe you after all this and the hospital fees...

”So how 'bout Chinese?” Robert continued, glancing over at Emily as they walked. And since she wasn't speaking, he continued. “I haven't actually had Chinese since before I left Toronto, so it's about time I think. One of the guys at school told me about this place. Apparently it really doesn't look like much, actually, I think his words were 'it looks like a s**t hole, but he said it is one of his favourite places.”

Hearing that, Lee's eyes widened. That sounded too much like the Chinese restaurant near Tarin's shop, the place that they had gone to that first time she had gone to see him, the place that had come to be 'the normal' when they went for food. Even if the little, old woman who owned the place didn't recognize her and start asking questions, Lee didn't think she could walk in there again. There would just be too many memories.

“I don't do Chinese,” Lee ended up telling Robert. Was it a lie? She didn't know, but it wasn't like she had had Chinese food since the last time she and Tarin had gotten it. And she might not do Chinese again, in all actuality. She and Tarin had eaten it a lot. For food, it did have a lot of memories. Just like enchiladas and tamales.

”Since when?” Robert asked, looking over in slight concern at the look on Emily's face. “I thought you liked Chinese.”

“Since I got food poisoning from it,” Lee replied, her eyes straight ahead as they walked. Ok, that one was a lie and she knew it. Maybe Robert would realize it too. But Lee was not about to explain why she didn't want to have Chinese, why she didn't want to go to the restaurant she thought he was talking about.

“How about we get pizza or something, then?” Lee suggested, finally looking over at Robert. Yup, she was trying. It was hard, but she was. “But only if we go somewhere with good garlic bread. I've got a bit of a craving for it.”

Robert nodded. “Sounds good, but we'll have to back track a bit,” he told Emily with a slight smile. “There's a good place back that way a bit.”

Not much longer later, Lee was sitting in a booth across from her brother as they waited for their pizza, a glass of coke sitting in front of each of them. Luckily, Robert had let the whole 'food poisoning from Chinese food' lie go and hadn't pressed it further. He was, however, insisting on being incredibly talkative. And trying to get her to be the same.

”Rachel's been worried about you, too.”

Lee couldn't help but wonder at Robert's change in topic now that he realized the last one was dead. Though, Lee couldn't really remember what the last one had been about, so maybe it wasn't much of a change. “That so?” Lee asked as she looked up at Robert, her right hand idly playing with her necklace as she sat there. The necklace that had become the new home for the engagement ring Tarin had given her back as she was moving out. Though, it did feel kind of nice that her younger sister had been worried. “Next you're going to tell me that your parents are worried about me.”

”They're your parents too, Em,” Robert replied. He didn't look too happy about what she had said. “They might not have done the right thing when we were younger, but that doesn't stop you from being your parents. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“At least one more,” Lee said, her eyes narrowed slightly. “If you insist on reminding me, it'll always be at least one more time. They may have given birth to me, but that doesn't make them my parents.” Lee took a sip of her coke to give herself a moment to calm down. There really wasn't any reason to get upset with him, he hadn't been forced through the same experiences as she had been by their parents simply because of what he was. He had been encouraged, helped through university when he needed it, where as she had been pulled out of high school and been labelled 'sick' to hide the fact that she was a mutant. No, getting mad would only make things more difficult, definitely not a good thing when she was stuck sleeping on his couch for the time being.

“So what's Rachel so worried about?” Lee asked. Yeah, that was a much safer topic she decided, her hand still playing with the ring on her necklace. “I'm out and safe, what's there to worry about?”

”What's there to worry about?” Robert asked, unable to stop his eyes from rolling at how Emily was acting. “Maybe the fact that this is the first time you've been out to do more than get coffee since we went to get your things is reason enough to worry.”

Just what Lee wanted, Robert to point out the fact that she'd essentially been hiding. Not that it wasn't true, in a way she had been. But then again, she just hadn't exactly felt comfortable outside since she had gotten back to the city, and it had nothing – well almost nothing – to do with the chance of running into Tarin.

Before she was actually able to say anything, though, the waitress came back to the table, carrying the pizza and a plate of garlic bread. Lee waited only long enough for them to be set on the table before she reached out to grab a slice of garlic bread, which let the ring fall to hang on the end of the chain.

”What the hell are you doing with that?” Robert demanded, staring across the table, not even paying attention to the food in front of him after the waitress left.

Lee just looked at Robert in confusion as she finished the bite she had already taken. “I'm eating,” she answered slowly, her head tilting to the side. This whole excursion had been his idea, after all. “Told you I wanted garlic bread.”

”No, what are you doing with that around your neck? I thought you said you were done with him.”

It was only then that Lee realized the ring had fallen into sight, and that this must be the first time Robert had actually seen it since she had come to stay with him. “I am done with him,” Lee growled back, letting the still mostly uneaten piece of garlic bread fall to the plate in front of her. “I came to you for help. I wouldn't have even considered that if I wasn't sure I was done with him.”

”Take it off then, Emily,”

Lee's eyebrows shot up her forehead as she stared at her brother across the table. “Excuse me?” She exclaimed in shock.

”Take it off,” Robert repeated. “There's no reason to wear it if you're done with him.”

“It's not like it's on my f***ing hand, Robert!” Lee hissed. “And last I checked, it was my decision what I did and didn't wear. If this is your idea of help,” she continued as she stood up. “I don't need it. Sorry I imposed so long.”

“Em!” Robert called as he watched his sister storm out of the restaurant they were in. She didn't turn around. “Emily, wait! ...Damn it.”

Robert was angry, that was for sure. But unlike his sister, he stayed in the restaurant. At least long enough to get the food packed up and to pay the cheque. So not really that much longer, but long enough.

He didn't know what Emily was playing at, though. She had broken off the engagement herself. It wasn't like Tarin had dumped her, not like in December when he had brought Emily to him with broken bones and bruises, then left. Despite how upset it had made him that Emily didn't see how bad Tarin was for her, Robert could at least partially understand why she hadn't settled for the split; she had been in denial. This was different. She had been the one to break things off with Tarin this time. She couldn't be in denial over that.

Or at least that's the story Emily had told him.

But for her to actually be wearing the engagement ring still? Sure, she wasn't actually wearing it on her finger, but you just didn't continue to wear an engagement ring after the engagement was broken off. You could keep the ring if you so wanted, but you didn't wear it. It just wasn't right.

Finally, Robert made it back to his apartment to find the door unlocked. Emily must have come straight back to the apartment to have beaten him there, though that didn't make sense to Robert. If she was so upset at him, why would she be back in his home right away?

That confusion quickly disappeared as Robert walked into the living room to see Emily quickly packing up the few things she had taken out in the couple days since they had gone to get her stuff from Tarin's apartment.

“What in the world are you doing?” Robert demanded, striding across the room.

“What does it look like?” Lee asked in reply without even looking up. “I'm packing.”

”Packing...” Robert repeated slowly as he set the bag from the restaurant on the living room table. “And where are you going to go?”

Lee shrugged slightly as she glanced around the room, looking to see if she had missed anything. “I'll figure it out,” she answered simply. She'd had to do this sort of thing many times over the years, so really, what was one more sudden move? At least this one wasn't painful like the last one was. It wasn't even nearly as bad as the move out of the apartment with Jason had been when she had originally moved in with Tarin.

”You'll figure it out? What do you mean you'll figure it out? You're leaving even though you don't have anywhere to go?”

Lee turned to look at Robert briefly. “Just that. I'll figure it out. Won't be the first time, probably not the last.” With another shrug, Lee moved to zip up the bag in front of her. “I'll find a room somewhere,” Lee continued, her tone almost disinterested. Though she had hoped to avoid getting stuck on the streets again, that had quickly become a much more appealing option than staying under the same roof as Robert. “If all else fails, I'll find a locker or something to stash my stuff in till I find something.”

”You're not leaving like this,” Robert said, taking a couple steps forward and grabbing Emily's arm, turning her to face him, all the anger out of his voice by this point. “Not when you have no where to go, Emily. Not again.”

As she spun, Lee glared at Robert. “Don't. Touch. Me.” She hissed through clenched teeth.

Apparently Robert's hockey harded skull wasn't so dense that he didn't understand Lee's glare and hissed words, for when he heard them, the taller man moved back a half step. However, he didn't actually do what was demanded, and his hand stayed clasped on Lee's arm.

“Don't touch me,” Lee repeated her voice still harsh, though her teeth were no longer clenched. Still, it didn't seem to quite click in that he should let go, so Lee pulled her arm out of Robert's grasp. “Don't ever touch me.”

”Em, come on,” Robert said, almost pleaded as he watched Emily moving away from him. “Just relax. I don't mind about your powers. You don't have to freak out about it.”

Lee was just turning back to her bags, she still had a few things left to finish before she could leave, when she heard Robert's words. “Who said it was you worried about them?” she asked as she spun back around, a pained look in her eyes. A look that grew even more pained and haunted as images of what her powers had done to Tarin, how he'd barely been able to move, to even stay conscious, flashed through her mind. “I haven't touched you since being here, or haven't you noticed? I don't touch people anymore.”

”Em, you don't have to go that far-”

“No?” Lee questioned. “You try getting electrocuted every time someone touches you, no matter how briefly. Then as soon as you're free of that, you almost kill someone just because you touched them. Try that and then tell me how you feel about touching people.

“Now leave me alone so I can pack.”

”No,” Robert stated, not moving from where he was a mere foot away from Emily. “I'm not going to let you leave when you have nowhere else to go, Em. At least wait till you find somewhere, first.”

“And you think you'd actually be able to stop me from leaving?” Lee asked, a look of almost amusement on her face. Just because Robert was a good nine inches taller than her, and a fair deal heavier, didn't automatically mean he could keep her there. “I just can't stay here with you any more.”

”Rachel!” Robert exclaimed suddenly. “She's been wanting to see you, but hasn't been able to get the time off work for a visit.”

“So?” Lee asked, trying to ignore Robert so she could finish packing. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do.

”You could go stay with her,” Robert suggested, stepping around Lee so he could see her face again. “At least until you can find somewhere else. I'll go give her a call, make sure it's cool with her.”

“Fine,” Lee growled. She hadn't exactly been eager to be back on the street, that's why she had originally sucked it up and asked Robert if she could stay with him. She didn't even wait for him to leave the room to grab the phone before she was packing again.

But somehow, things had gotten rearranged in her bags during the week she had been there, and everything wasn't fitting in as nicely. Grumbling to herself, Lee started pulling things out so she could pack tighter, and that's when she saw it for the first time: Tarin's Social Distortion jacket. Lee blinked as she slowly pulled it out of her bag. How in the world had that gotten in there? She knew for a fact that she hadn't packed it, she hadn't even seen it since before she had been captured and thrown in the camp. Straightening up from where she had been leaning over the bag, Lee was puzzled.

Until she saw something drop from coat as it unfolded. Bending over once again, Lee picked up a yellow post-it stuck to a card, covered in Tarin's writing. It only took a second to read the note, but when she finished, Lee was cursing Tarin. How dare he pull something like this on her? Sure, she hadn't gotten paid while she had been working in the shop, neither of them had honestly seen the point, but Lee was making due on her own, just like she always had. She did not need Tarin helping her. And he knew her, had to know that even though she'd be upset about it, she wouldn't actually go find him to give it back.

“Damn him!” Lee actually muttered out loud as she stuffed the jacket, as well as everything else she had pulled out back into the bag.

”What was that?” Robert asked as he walked back into the room.

“Nothing,” Lee mumbled, finally managing to get the bag zipped up. After how Robert had reacted to the ring, Lee was not about to tell him about this. “What did she say?”

”She's fine with it,” Robert replied, walking slowly back into the room. “She's out of town till tomorrow night, though, so you won't be able to go until at least tomorrow.”

“Fine, I'll hop on the train in the morning,” Lee answered, looking around to see where she had put her purse. She knew how long it had taken on the bus from Windsor to New York. The train from New York to Toronto should take long enough for things to work out. “I need to go for a walk. I'll be back in the morning to get my things if I don't come back tonight.”

”Em-”

Lee ignored him, finally catching sight of her purse and snatching it up. “I'm a big girl, Robert,” she said as she walked toward the front door. “I can take care of myself.” Then she was out the door, outside. She didn't know where she was going to go, how she was going to spend however many hours it would take her before she felt able to deal with Robert again, but she started walking all the same.


((Continued in Well it was ugly but we made it this far))