It had been a long night. A really really long night. For one, Tarin wasn't used to staying awake for long periods of time after close contact with Lee. In fact, he'd never stayed awake for more than a little while after the type of contact they'd had earlier that night. Until now.

They were in a cab, headed to the last place on Earth that Tarin really wanted to go. The mansion. Tarin's eyes were drooping and he was staring out the window at the buildings passing by in what could only be described as a trance-like state. Lee was worried nearly spastic with the worry, in fact, and when she lost control like that...it tended to increase her powers. Tarin was tired. Tarin was really, really, tired.

Tired as he was, Tarin smiled slightly at the reason for the visit to the mansion. Then the smile faded at the implications of the visit. They were in for something incredible if Lee's suspicions were correct and she actually was pregnant. It was so soon though.

The buildings started to blur as he stared at them and Tarin pulled his gaze away and rubbed his eyes, turning to smile slightly at Lee. "We're almost there. Did you talk to...him to let the Doc know we're on our way?" Tarin still wasn't going to say his name, and it was bad enough they'd had to call him. Lee needed this though, they needed this. Almost as much as Tarin was starting to think he needed some sleep.

Lee knew that Tarin was tired. She knew that even before the sun had started to lighten the apartment, indicating that it was morning rather than simply the middle of the night. She knew that Tarin was completely exhausted, and yet there he was, with her through the entire night, staying up to try and distract her from the thought that had kept them from sleeping.

But the sun was up now, and Lee had called really the only person at the mansion who's number she knew; Tarin wouldn't be very happy about it, she knew, but she didn't exactly have a number for the DocProf there, and they needed to know whether he was there and able to see them that day before they made the trip there. Even if it was a trip Lee would much prefer to make compared to seeing a human doctor. At least this guy already knew something about her powers, if only the fact that she had them.

Sitting there in the cab, her hands clutching one of Tarin's, Lee was finding it harder to keep the slight calm she had acquired over the night. So she was simply focusing on keeping her breathing as slow and steady as she could as the cab drove on.

And then Tarin brought up the question, at least one of them, one that was actually answerable at this point, that she was sure he had been wondering about since before they left the apartment.

Nodding, Lee looked over at Tarin. "Yeah, Sam said he should be there, that there shouldn't be a problem with us seeing him as soon as we get there," Lee told Tarin. She just hoped that that was the truth, Lee wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. If she actually was....she took a deep breath before even being able to think the word....pregnant, she was going to have another seven to eight months of worry and panic ahead of her. But at least she'd know. Right now, she didn't.

And speak of the devil...well, if the devil could be a building that is...for just then the cab came to a stop in front of the mansion and Lee felt her breathing quicken once more. Waiting for Tarin to pay the cabby, Lee hopped out of the vehicle and started making her way toward the front door with Tarin.

The taxi stopped, they paid for it, they got out of the vehicle and started making their way towards the mansion. Tarin couldn't help but remember that the last time he'd been here he'd been carried in. The bookcase had done some serious damage. His thoughts were drifting and Tarin hoped that Lee hadn't disintegrated too far into utter panic while he was zoning off. A glance in her direction and the tightened posture and nerviness in her face mad it obvious that she had started to worry again.

Tarin squeezed Lee's hand as they approached the door to the mansion, hoping that everything would turn out alright, not matter what Doc Prof said in there. He was sure, almost positive, that if Lee was pregnant, that in itself was an indication that her body and powers were compatible with those of the baby. Lee couldn't see that though, couldn't believe it from Tarin's mouth, so he hoped that an actual doctor giving that opinion would help. If that was the case. Tarin was honestly too tired to think about what he'd do if that wasn't the case. The thought of having a child in and of itself was too overwhelming. They'd just find out if she was pregnant first.

By this time they were at the front door of the mansion and Tarin knocked, half dreading the sound of the door opening. It did open, dread or not, and Tarin's suddenly tense posture relaxed. Doc Prof had come to the front door himself to greet them. "Great timing..." Tarin said, looking around for the camera that had to be somewhere.

"Hello Tarin, Lee." Doc said, and Tarin smiled wearily and nodded his head in response to the greeting. The doc stared at the two for a moment, Tarin basically dead on his feet and Lee looking like a coiled spring ready to snap and shook his head with a little laugh, "Looks like you've had a long night. Let's get you guys inside and figure this all out."

"Yes Please..." Tarin said on a sigh and followed the man inside, still gripping Lee's hand. It would all be over soon, and they would know. For better or worse, they would know.

Tarin was there with her, squeezing her hand, and suddenly they were at the door. A door which was being knocked on. A door which was opening barely after the knock was finished.

Lee was so completely torn. She wanted, needed to know as soon as possible if she was pregnant or not, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel that things were moving way too fast here.

The one good bit of news there was that it was DocProf who opened the door for them; Lee wasn't going to have to deal with anyone else in order to get down to the infirmary.

DocProf, who apparently decided to state the obvious by asking if it had been a long night. Well, of course it had been. She wouldn't have called so early, she wouldn't be coming here, Tarin wouldn't be looking like he did if it hadn't been a rough night.

Lee felt ready to burst, or bounce off the walls, or something, with all the nervous, worried energy she had, yet it still took Tarin pulling her by the hand to get her inside, to get her to follow the DocProf down the hallways toward the infirmary.

Next thing Lee knew - or was it more like 20 minutes later? - Lee was in the infirmary, wearing one of those horrible paper robe things, sitting on a bed. The curtain was pulled, blocking them off from the rest of the infirmary, not that Lee would have really noticed at that point in time; her attention was fully focused on the two men there with her. DocProf was starting to examine her, after she had made sure to tell him all her thoughts and worries about her powers, and Tarin was pretty much the only thing keeping her from freaking out completely at that point.

"One thing's for sure."

Lee looked over from Tarin as she heard DocProf's slow, calm voice. "What's that?" She asked, nervousness making her voice crack slightly. So far, DocProf hadn't done anything she would have expected to give him an answer to their question yet. But he was a mutant, too, he had healed Tarin just by touching him.

"You need to calm down and relax. You're blood pressure is far too high."

At that, all Lee could do for five seconds was stare at DocProf with a blank expression. Like she really needed a doctor to tell her that right then. That sort of thing could wait, what she needed to know then was whether she was pregnant or not, though Lee wasn't sure how she couldn't be.

"Fine, I'll work on that later," Lee finally managed to say, her eyes still on DocProf. "And? Can we actually get to why I'm here?"

"One thing's for sure." Tarin's head jerked up at the Doctor's voice. He'd been dozing, or staring off into space, or something, but those words got his attention. Tarin couldn't have said what they'd done since they'd gotten there but Lee was in one of those hospital gown things. In another situation he'd have been teasing her about the fact that it was backless. As it were, he just sat there and stared at the doctor, holding his breath.

Then the bloody quack said something about Lee's blood pressure. Collapsing slightly back into his chair, Tarin glared at the man with a slightly pained look on his face. How often had he done this? Why would the man be so sadistic as to tease them when they were this stressed out.

Lee seemed to be of a like mind and Tarin pushed himself from the chair and moved to her on weary legs, leaning with one arm behind her on the bed, "I think she'd be much more calm if we actually knew what was going on. Neither of us have had a lick of sleep..you've got to understand. 'Unplanned' wouldn't even be the word to describe this."

Tarin paused and sighed, "Have we done the test yet?" he said wearing, running a hand through his hair, "If we haven't done the test yet...can we just do the test?"

Tarin was suddenly there. After DocProf had spoken, Tarin must have gotten up and come oven from the chair he'd been sitting in without Lee noticing, because all of a sudden he was there beside her, leaning against the bed, his arm behind her. And he was saying all the things to DocProf that she wasn't able to figure out the words for.

"Yes, well."

The DocProf had spoken quietly, and hadn't seemed too impressed with what she and Tarin had said, but hadn't seemed upset or annoyed with it either. There was a reason they were there, Lee could deal with high blood pressure as a result of her worrying at a later time.

"Alright then, if you'll just move out of the way, I can get started."

At this, Lee took a deep breath. It was so much easier to stay calm with Tarin right there, right beside her. But Lee knew that he'd have to move, to give room, and the sooner the tests were started, the better. Closing her eyes, Lee took another slow, deep breath as she waited for her instructions.

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Hours. That's how long it'd been since DocProf had disappeared after checking this, that, and drawing a few vials of blood. Hours. They had tests where you could pee on a stick and know within 5 minutes, and yet she'd been stuck here without an answer for hours.

Lee had changed long ago, back into the jeans and t-shirt she'd thrown on quickly that morning. If there wasn't a reason to be in that stupid gown, she wasn't going to stay in it.

Tarin had passed out in the chair next to the bed long ago, too. Not too long after DocProf had left, actually. Not that Lee was really surprised, neither of them had slept that night, and they had been touching a fair bit...still, the last few hours would have been much easier for her if Tarin had still been awake.

At that moment, Lee was laying on the hospital bed on her side, looking over at Tarin's face. Even in his exhaustion, even passed out in what had to be a fairly uncomfortable chair to sleep in, Lee could see a bit of happiness on his face.

Feeling the tears springing up, Lee squeezed her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip. He wanted this. Despite how much he had said that she'd always be enough for him, that they didn't need to have kids, ever, he wanted this. And she was absolutely terrified of the possibility.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Lee sniffled and wiped at her eyes, catching the couple of stray tears that had escaped. A moment later, she heard the curtain being pushed aside, and sat up to see DocProf walking toward the bed. "So?" Lee asked before the man had even come to a stop.

"Should we wake him up?"

Tarin was sleeping, it had simply been too much to keep his eyes open another moment. Lee needed him, and a few times Tarin tried to pull himself from the exhausted sleep he'd fallen into, it didn't happen though. So he slept, not realizing that it had been hours since they'd entered the infirmary and the tests had began.

Tarin wasn't dreaming either, but his dozing mind was wandering to what it would be like if they had a kid. Fankly, he was terrified of the idea. When he'd spoke to Lee about it, what seemed so long ago, he'd meant years down the line. Not mere weeks since they'd been married. That was the last thing Lee was going to find out though. If they were going to have a baby, they were going to have baby and he was going to jump into fatherhood with both feet.

"Should we wake him up?"

"No need." Tarin said, sitting upright in the chair he'd reclined into as the doctor re-entered their little cubicle space and appeared ready to read the results of the testing.

Yawning and scrubbing sleep from his eyes, Tarin stood and moved back to the bed to sit by Lee as the doctor presumedly gave them the news. She'd changed at some point and Tarin frowned slightly, realizing he'd been sleeping deeper than he'd thought, at least for a period of time. "How long was I out?" he asked a little blearily as he wrapped an arm around Lee's waist. Turning his attention back to the doctor, Tarin smiled slightly.

"So doc? What's the news?"

As DocProf asked if they should wake Tarin, Lee turned to look at him once more only to see that Tarin was sitting up, his eyes at least partially open.

"A few hours," Lee said, turning her eyes back to DocProf even as she felt Tarin sitting on the bed beside her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Still, she leaned back against him as he asked for the news.

"Well Lee. You're not pregnant. There is-"

"Oh thank goodness!" Lee interrupted with a relieved sigh.

"As I was saying. There is, however, a reason for your lapse in menstration. It would appear you're anemic."

Lee's relief, and the sigh that was still escaping from her lips, stopped as she just starred at the DocProf. Then blinked at him. "I'm not..." Lee said slowly, trying to fully wrap her mind around it. "But...I'm anemic? What?"

The words rang in Tarin's ears over and over again, "Not...not....not....not....not...." and he didn't know what to feel. The exhaustion was even more overwhelming now and Tarin just sighed and ran his hand through his hair. His head jerked up though as Lee exlcaimed with apparently glee at the situation. That hadn't quite been what he'd expected.

Wouldn't it have been a good thing if Doc had told Lee she really was pregnant? Wouldn't that have meant that everything was okay and that she could be pregnant? Isn't that what they wanted to hear.

There was also a small problem. Lee was...anemic. The 'huh' look on Tarin's face was probably priceless. They'd gone through all of this to simply find out nothing noting besides the fact that Lee needed a little more iron in her diet.

"For the love of fu...." Tarin said, then bit off the end of the epitaph. It wasn't the doctor's fault and he didn't deserve the slight ire Tarin was starting to feel in the situation. He'd meant every word when he told Lee that if they never had children, she would be enough...but he'd sort of adjusted to the idea over the last few hours. They were treating it in such a cavalier way though. It was slightly unnerving.

"Well. I guess that's that." he said, his body relaxing out of the tense posture it had perpetually assumed throughout the night and morning. "What do we need to do about the anemia?"

"For the love of fu...."

She knew it. Even through the relief she was feeling at the news that she wasn't actually pregnant, Lee's eyes closed, her head tilting downward slightly, and she swallowed. Hard. She'd known Tarin had wanted it. She'd been pretty sure before they'd even gotten married that he wanted kids, but this had shown her for real. He wanted to have kids, and that was something Lee didn't know if she'd ever be able to do. Even if physically she'd be able to, Lee didn't know if she'd ever be able to handle it mentally.

Just look at how this had effected them.

"First thing, we get you on an iron supplement. You will need to change your diet to, add more iron rich foods in since you're not getting enough right now. But the supplement is the important part right now to start getting your iron level back up. It should help you not feel as tired."

The iron supplement, that wasn't a surprise. If she was anemic, wasn't that pretty much a given? What did surprise Lee was DocProf's comment about her feeling tired, and she opened her eyes, looking at him with a confused expression on her face as the man stepped forward with a couple pills in his outstretched hand. "What do you mean tired?" Lee asked, not even bothering with the pills the doctor was trying to give to her yet.

"Fatigued. Worn out. You mean you haven't been feeling more tired the last few months?"

Lee shook her head. "When I have energy, I'm awake. When I don't, then I feel tired," Lee explained slowly. Really, how much sense did it make to be using fatigue as a sign in a person who couldn't produce her own energy?

"Alright. What about your hands and feet feeling cold, feeling weak, being short of breath?"

Was DocProf looking a little concerned about the fact that she hadn't been feeling more tired than normal? Again, Lee shook her head. "Well, it is winter," she said. If she had been feeling cold, wouldn't that explain it just as well as being anemic could have? "But no, I don't think so..."

Tarin was watching Lee very closely through this whole exchange. Gauging her reactions to the things she was hearing and the reactions he was having. He almost winced at the way her posture changed at his verbal almost outburst. It was frustrating, Lee reacting like that when it wasn't the reason at all. Somehow, though, Tarin didn't think this was the time or place to have that discussion. His head still felt like it was full of cotton, and his eyes were burning like he'd been awake for a month straight.

Doc went over the symptoms of anemia and Tarin realized a few moments too late that at some point he'd started laughing. It was slightly hysterical laughter, but the truth of the matter was, it was funny as hell. Lee felt all those things in a normal day, thanks to her powers. Well, not the cold extremities, but it was February...who didn't have cold hands and feet?

"I'm...sorry...." Tarin said, trying to regain his composure, "I know that nothing about this situation should be remotely funny...but I can't seem to help myself. Lee's powers make her feel like that all the time...we'd have never had a clue if we hadn't all of a sudden thought she was pregnant."

The doctor took it in stride though, cracking a smile himself and fixing Lee with a look, "I think it would be safe to say that you weren't the only one anxious about the possibility of pregnancy. A lot of men react this way....jumbled emotions and all that. I think it would probably be a good idea for you both to get some rest. Other than that, here's the supplements I'd recommend and feel free to come back the next time this happens."

Tarin realized he was being talked about like he wasn't in the room. The laughter had finally subsided and Tarin wiped his eyes, which had teared up while he was laughing. The doctor finished with Lee and left, and Tarin moved around to the front of her, a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"I hope you realize I wasn't laughing at you." he said in their new found semi-privacy. "It's just that we went through all this panic and worry for an entire night...and all you need is some vitamins....Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled it's nothing more serious, it's just that...wow."

That said, Tarin reached out and wrapped his arms around Lee, hugging her close, then pulling away, her reaction to the news still slightly nagging at the back of his mind. "It wouldn't have really been that awful if it would have been true...right?" he said. "To be honest, I was terrified of the thought...this soon...and if I'm honest I'm as relieved as you are right now...but if it would happen...sometime down the line?" he said, face thoughtful, but carefully calm and composed.

Tarin was laughing. He was laughing. Looking over her shoulder at Tarin, she was just in time to see him trying to gain control of himself again, apologizing to the Doc. It did, kind of, make sense; the idea that any of those things could really be used as any sort of indication of problems for her was a little ridiculous. But it wasn't by any means a laughing matter. If anything, Lee realized, it was more of a cause for concern, for worry. What else might go wrong for her, might end up being wrong in her body, might be then, and they'd have no clue because of how her powers worked?

DocProf didn't seem to take Tarin's laughter too badly, at least not based on what he said; it almost seemed like the doctor was saying Tarin's reaction was his release of stress now. It was a great stress release.

Then DocProf was giving her the pills, highly suggesting they both get some much needed rest, and leaving. Which left Lee alone with Tarin, really alone for the first time in hours since there was no longer all the worry that almost felt like a third person in the room with them.

Lee was just turning on the bed to look at Tarin when he was getting up, moving in front of her, looking at her straight on. Nodding. It was a good thing it had turned out to be nothing more serious that just anemia. And then Tarin was hugging her, and Lee wrapped her arms around him, almost clinging to him. The last however many hours it'd been since she'd sat bolt upright in the bed had been hard on her, she wasn't sure how she would have gotten through them without Tarin there.

Much sooner than she was wanting, Tarin was pulling away. She didn't want him to, she wanted him to continue hold her, hugging her, but reluctantly she let her arms loosen. And then he was asking about 'what if' it had been...

"I...don't know..." Lee whispered, the words slow, her eyes closing. "Even if, somehow, I could physically..." Lee paused for a second and shook her head a bit to each side. "I'm not sure I could mentally."

Taking a deep breath, Lee finally opened her eyes to look at Tarin again. "I just can't get passed the fear," she told him.

Lee was worried. Lee was always worried, but this time it was different. She was back to some of the things they’d talked about back when they were very first engaged. It seemed so long ago, Tarin couldn’t help but think as he stood in the infirmary. Almost like it was another time and place. She was answering his question though, despite her obvious misgivings about the situation.

Tarin frowned slightly at Lee’s answer, not because of what it was, but because of the reasons. Her eyes were closed, like they always were when she didn’t want to see his reaction, because she was afraid of what his reaction was going to be. Her eyes opened them and Tarin was still right there, staring steadily at her. Dropping his hands to rest on her knees, Tarin kept looking steadily at Lee for a few moments, working out his wording and making sure he said what he wanted to say without it coming across wrong.

“Lee, I think we’ve had this conversation before. I’ve always said I’d be thrilled if we had kids, but if it’s not in the cards, it’s not in the cards.” He paused for a second and leaned forward, kissing Lee softly before he continued, “Though, I’m going to tell you something I haven’t had to say for a long time.” A ghost of a smile appeared on Tarin’s face as he thought back again. “If you don’t want kids, don’t have kids…but you’re letting your powers stand in the way of your life again.” He paused for a second but raised a hand to silence whatever Lee might be thinking to say.

“Having children is terrifying to anyone Lee, I’m terrified, and mutations have nothing to do with it. You’re not strange for being afraid...but if you really don’t want it, I’ve told you a thousand times if I’ve told you once. You’ll always be enough for me.”

Tarin kissed Lee again, then stepped back, yawning, “Now, I don’t know about you…but I’m ready to go home and sleep for about four-hundred hours.”

Very slowly, as she sat there looking at Tarin as he stood in front of her, Lee started calming down a bit more. Started relaxing the slightest bit, which she hadn't done since the previous day.

And he had said all of those things before, the last time that she had freaked out about the idea of having kids, only that time it had simply been after an offhanded comment Tarin had made.

Again, though, Tarin made a comment he had made on many an occasion before this. Many times, but not for quite a while now. Her head dropped and her eyes closed before Lee could stop herself, so she didn't see Tarin's raised hand trying to stop what she was about to say. "And sometimes, people don't have a choice but to let their powers stand in the way," she said softly.

As Tarin continued, though, a small smile crept onto Lee's face. It still felt amazing to hear him say things like that. Hell, it still felt amazing, wondrous, every time he simply held her hand, or touched her cheek knowing what her powers did to him. And that kiss...simple, quick, chaste as it was, Lee didn't think she'd ever get tired of feeling Tarin kiss her.

"Yeah," Lee agreed, finally looking up at him again to see that he'd stepped back. So she followed, hopping off the hospital bed. "I think some sleep would do us both some good. Let's go home."