Knock, knock.

Was this a joke? Immigration had come by twice in the last month and now, twice in the same week. She had dismissed them with apologies each time. He is a powerful healer, have you tried the hospitals? Here meet his son. Of course he still lives here. Sebastian would never abandon us. Only, after more than a year without contact, Maya was starting to wonder.

So was US Immigration Services.

This time, Maya was pretending that she wasn't home: a ruse that would have worked better if her son did not insist on making explosion sounds with his mouth.

"Shhhhh." She shushed him gently and put her hand on his lips but the boy only grabbed her hand and started bopping it against his mouth as he made a long, loud shout. He liked to hear the interruptions her hand made in the sound he was making. Call it an inappropriately timed baby science experiment.

"Hello?" The knocking stopped and there just wasn't much choice on the matter now. Maya hoisted her son onto her hip, grabbed her keys and his jacket and slipped out the window to the fire escape. "I know you're in there Ms. Csendes."

Not. Anymore.

She escaped as she might from a fire and only stopped to jiggle baby into his jacket before she started wandering away.

Where was he? It wasn't as if she wasn't looking. She was. But with him gone that made her the sole breadwinner and a single mom and that translated to long nights followed by early mornings. And swearing off her power... Well, she just didn't have the resources, mental or physical, to go looking every day.

She was sure as heck looking now.

Maya started by calling the three nearest hospitals asking after patients, healers or interns with his description. Short for a man, long and straight white hair, blue eyes and, no she wasn't kidding, a unicorn horn. All the while, she juggled baby and kept walking.

It had been a restless night of sleep, and Evelyn was exhausted as she started towards the subway. It was would be a short ride to get to work from her Manhattan apartment, but she was dreading how the stairs would strain her weary limbs. Her silvery white hair was reflecting the sunlight, and it made her stand out like a sore thumb, and she was wearing dark black jeans and a pale grey sweater that went to her thighs. The outfit was a little on the plain side for her, but that was how she felt today: plain and boring. If only the night had been the same.

After several days running on a few hours of sleep, she had crashed into bed early and hoped for a long night of rest. But the playbacks... they had other ideas. And they woke her in a cold sweat more than once during the night. She was back in school, arguing with another girl with dark brown hair and a massive amount of freckles on her slim face. The cold eyes glared at her, and the girl crossed her arms firmly across her chest, her skinny little legs spaced evenly apart like a barrier from the rest of the lunch room. Evelyn was cornered, and glanced from side to side for somewhere to go. Different escape routes offered their echoes, but the girl interrupted them. "Get lost freak." She demanded.

Evelyn shook her head and frowned stubbornly up at her. "No! I'm not a freak and I didn't do anything to you. Professor would have noticed you were cheating anyway, you always look---"

There was a crack of fist to face and pain exploded from her cheek as the girls punch connected with her cheekbone. Evelyn cried out in pain, falling towards the floor and landing in an awkward heap. She felt like a puddle of white hair and clothing as she burst into tears, and held her face in angry sorrow----

I don't want to remember. Her voice angrily cut off the memory, so fresh in her mind now she could taste the blood in her mouth, hear the distant conversations down the hall. She could still remember the numbers on the lockers to her right; a 6 was up, one of the doors was busted, and the steel blue color was mixed with a light pink where someone tried to paint it. Every detail was there, as if she was reliving it. It was a cycle she was doomed to repeat. Every time she closed her eyes, the memories played her life's events before her eyes. And some days, like today, they were memories she didn't want to see again.

She would do anything to be invisible today, with dark circles under her eyes. A good coating of foundation hadn't been enough to really fade them, and the tired expression was harder to fake. She wasn't big on make-up anyway, so maybe it was better she ditched the attempts to make herself more presentable anyway. Her flats muffled her footsteps on the sidewalk, the dark leather comfortable on her ankles and familiar. Her shoulders were hunched forward, arms crossed lightly as she focused on the path ahead. She hardly noticed anyone around her.

But that was ok. Just being trapped in her mind was enough to drive her crazy.

"...hold I'll check and get right back to you Mrs. Csendes."

Walking helped. Maya would pace the whole city if she had to because she hated this part. The waiting. What if he was in one of those hospital beds? A vegetable? Or maybe his healing had run out for some reason... what if he was hurting? Lonely?

"Ma'am?"

"Here." She had worked herself up and now her heart was pounding its way up into her throat. Rowan grabbed for the cell phone and by the time Maya bobbled it back to her ear, she had missed the first part of what the lady said.

"...by that name or description. I'm sorry. Have you contacted the police?"

Well there was no point in asking for clarification. Clearly Sebastian wan't there.

"Yes. I mean... thank--" A bit of white caught her eye and she stopped walking.

Sebastian?

"Ma'am?"

Maya strained her neck to see around the couple walking between her and the white-haired person.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

"Uhm. Yeah. Sorry. Thank you." She jabbed the buttons until the the screen locked and handed the device to Rowan to chew on. It only took a second, but it was a second too long. She was going to loose him.

"Sebastian?" Her voice was too soft to carry very far. She could use her power, but... no. That was the easy way out and a bad line of thinking to go down. She would have to do it the old fashioned way.

She ran.

Well, as much as a lady hefting a 20 pound baby can run. "Sebastian?" Maya lunged in order to try to catch the man's arm.

If it was him... if this was it...

She was happy, confused, anxious, but most of all she wanted a hug.

Evelyn was lost in herself. Her thoughts were running through the memories so recently unearthed in her mind. She didn't hear anyone calling out, and certainly wouldn't have responded to the name 'Sebastian' anyway. The sidewalks were crowded so it was hard to see little more of anyone than flashes of movement going past. She was one of the rare people with such pale white hair anyway, and hers was natural, which was odd in itself. Some people used to think she was part albino when she was younger. Others assumed it was just part of her mutation. She always liked to consider that it was the one natural mutation she had, and she enjoyed thinking something, anything about her was normal.

Like there was any type of normal to be found.

Then someone caught her arm, and she jumped in surprise.

She turned to see the woman and baby standing behind her, and a novel of information filled her head. There was an expression of hope melted into a look of disappointment, something so ac-cute she lost her momentary feeling of frustration. Her echoes instantly absorbed so much about this duo; a sense of loss, panic, desperation, pain. Her face melted into a sad smile, and she felt her eyes lost somewhere between gray and blue. "I don't think I'm the person you're looking for dear. But I hope you find them soon." She found herself saying, and hugged her arms awkwardly against her body, uncertain what to say. The problem with knowing so much, was it didn't teach you the right things to say. She could see someone's pain, but there was no way to lift it or help them deal with their problems.

She traced her memories back, and tried to pick out what the woman had been yelling a few moments ago. Honing in, she finally picked the name out of the fuzzy audio she had heart in the moment. "Sebastian... Husband, I'm guessing?" She did a glance for a ring, and then towards the baby. "How long?" Maybe it was a rude question to ask, but she said it with kindness and general concern. Maybe she was nosy. But sometimes, being nosy was how things got done.

He jumped and... There was no horn. No tail. Also, unless Sebastian had undergone a gender transition while he got all those visible mutations removed, Maya had just assaulted an innocent woman. She said something, but it hardly registered.

She had been so sure it was him this time...

Rowan dropped her phone and the clatter of plastic on concrete helped pull Maya back into he here and now. It was easy to follow that road down to despair, especially after everything that had happened. She just couldn't loose Sebastian too.

"I- I'm so sorry. How embarrassing." It took Maya a moment to let go of the other woman's arm and another few to balance her son on her hip in such a way that she could fetch the dropped phone. Thank goodness for cell phone cases. She was prepared to make herself laugh the devistating mistake off until the woman asked her the question.

> "How long?"

"It's a little more complicated than that?" That wasn't really a question, but her vocal chords were tightening in response to her cry reflex. She was holding it off, but just barely. "I'm so sorry. I-my mistake." The only thing left was a hasty retreat which was spoiled by the baby tossing her phone over her shoulder and at the white-haired girl.

Evelyn lightly caught the cell phone, and her eyes gave a quick skim of the object. Heavily scuffed from the baby's throwing and playing, there was also a certain amount of wear to the keypad. She glanced back up towards the clearly distressed female, eyes focusing on the smaller details of her appearance; the long brown roots of her hair transitioned to white at the tips, a few inches long where they came to a stop near her shoulders, and her shadow seemed oddly light, even in the direct sunlight. Something about here seemed... transparent. While the baby seemed mostly normal, the mother was clearly a mutant, at least to Evelyn's all too observant eyes.

"I typically find life in general is complicated." Evelyn said quietly, coming up to the woman and holding out the phone. "Beneath every facade of simplicity, there is an infinite network of complexity. I may not be the person you're looking for, but if there is anything I can do to help, I don't mind lending a hand. Yours seem to be a bit full." She said, giving the baby a soft smile, then glancing at the mother. Something about her distress pulled her out of her comfort zone, and encouraged her to speak up. She felt as if she were standing on a tiny limb, waiting to see if it would hold her weight. Perhaps she spoke up because she knew what it was like to need someone to reach out for. Sometimes, you just had to be the one to reach first.

She was nice. Maya could have handled rude or ambivalent or maybe even cruel, but nice? It opened the floodgates that she had been trying so hard to keep closed.

It wasn't that she didn't have help. Jude and Svetlana were at hand, her father resided at the Mansion and plenty of others had volunteered, but that wasn't what she needed. She had expected to live her life and raise her children in tandem with her partner. An hour without her child was not the same even if the free babysitting was nice.

Maya wiped at her eyes with the palm of her hand before accepting her phone back. It only took her a moment to come to a decision.

"Can I buy you a coffee?" Her voice was watery with tears, but still clear and strong. It would be nice to get out of the way of the crowd at least and finding a place to sit would mean that she could put Rowan down for a time. She loved the kid, but 20-something pounds was a lot to carry for any length of time. Especially in her condition.

She stuffed down that thought and marched to the closest coffee cart ordering one of whatever the stranger wanted and a peppermint tea for herself.

After she had inhaled the steam, she felt better. Reinvigorated. "My name is Maya. This is little guy is Rowan and I have not seen my husband in twenty months."

As the offer for coffee finally came from the woman, Evelyn gave a small smile and nodded as she followed her to the coffee cart. She ordered a simple chai latte, and held the warm cup, letting the steam drift around her face. She thanked the woman for the drink, gave a smile to the cashier running the cart, then listened as 'Maya' spoke.

Her echoes searched for something that could help. For now, there wasn't much to go on, however. "That is a long time to be without your partner. Especially trying to take care of a child. You've had no look trying to find him?" The question was said as gently as possible, and she let her fingers rest lightly as she held her drink. She didn't take a sip yet; it would be far too hot right now. Besides, she was much more interested in the answer. It might be silly, but after being called Holmes for so many years, part of her always fancied herself a decent detective. She could find clues other people missed, whether it led to a missing wallet or missing companion. With recent mutant tensions, she tended not to display her abilities as much, however. But when someone seemed so lost and alone, she felt drawn to some form of action.

"I apologize, I've been rude. I keep asking questions but I haven't really given you much back. My name is Evelyn. My friends call me Holmes. I tend to be nosier than I should sometimes... I guess it's always been a side effect of my....talents." She let the word drift from her mouth and watched for the reaction. Sometimes, people grew nervous and afraid when she started admitting her mutation. Like she was some freaky telepath that would read their mind. Then again, her powers could sometimes be about as intrusive as mind reading... Maybe there were reasons to be skittish after all.

"To be fair, I wasn't able to look for the entire twenty months, but no. No luck finding him." It was a bit of a long story to dump on a stranger and she hated to impose. Especially since most of what she told her friends about the time she was "away" was a lie.

Maya kept her eyes on Rowan who used the bench to edge back and forth between the women. He was practicing walking and that made her incredibly proud, silly as it was. It wouldn't be too long before he'd be running.

"Holmes." Maya tried the name out for herself and thought over the implications. This woman's abilities made her something of a detective then? With the white hair, she wasn't surprised this young woman was a mutant. Maybe a mental ability? "If you can help me find him, I would answer any question you put to me." But that wasn't where this was going to start, was it?

"Money." She said the word as if it had suddenly arrived in her brain. "You probably want compensation. I could write a check, or..." Or something. Maya busied herself with her diaper bag, she had just put her wallet back in so it was, of course, lost in the abyss. She had an emergency twenty dollar bill in there... baby Advil, not that wouldn't do... squeaky toy...

Evelyn gave a small smile as Maya asked her question. Most people took longer to put together what 'Holmes' implicated, but she seemed to have sorted out the important part of it. While she was no detective, she did have a habit of being able to sort out things others couldn't.

"I don't need money dear. But I can still help you try to find him. I know, it seems silly and sudden coming out of nowhere, but I feel... I'd feel better knowing my gifts did something good for once." She trailed off momentarily, smiled at the baby then pushed her hair out of her face. Suddenly, rushing to get around town and the sleepless night didn't seem so bad. Maybe she could find some good memories to fill her mind with for once. Her work wouldn't miss her today; she was only going in to get away from Jensen and technically she wasn't scheduled until tomorrow. Perhaps it was just a little bit of fate giving them a hand. She needed a distraction, and Maya needed help.

"My family always regarded being different as something to hide and ignore. But it's a part of who I am and I wasn't so good at that. Just like I'm not exactly great and minding my own business." She waited for a moment, then tried to think of where to start first.

"So, I guess the best way to help is to start with telling you what I can do. My abilities are sort of what I'd call 'hyper-awareness'. When I look at the world around me, everything 'echoes'. The sidewalk tells me what is was made of, different areas it's worn than others; peoples behaviors, postures, eye movements tell mood, agitation, personality. Then... I read it. So the best way for me to help is to find something that I can pick up echoes from, or just for me to have some form of information my powers can process." She explained slowly.

Getting called "dear" nettled Maya a bit, but she knew it wasn't a personal affront. Only a term of endearment from a person who was turning out to be a friend she just hadn't yet met.

"Have your abilities done harm?" Not that she was worried in the here and now, but... should she be?

"I know all about the hiding, even from family. I lived abroad while the registration act was going on here. Maybe it wasn't as bad, but I think everyone that was just a little different felt the pressure."

Rowan lost his grip and toppled back onto his diaper padded bum. Without a second thought Maya pulled him back to his feet and continued their conversation. He was totally fine and she nodded along to let Evelyn know that she was still listening.

"It sounds like you would need something of his... or a trail of some kind?" She wracked her brain. "You could try to start at our apartment, but it has been remodeled. I have all his things still... he even built Rowan's crib." The question was, would any of that work?

Have your abilities done harm?

Surprisingly, that question took Evelyn a bit off guard. Her brow furrowed slightly, and she shook her head, moving her hair from her face as her bangs draped across her eyes. "My powers have done no direct harm, but as with any mutation, I wouldn't say they haven't done harm in general. Sometimes... I learn things people don't want to know. I say things people don't want to here, and in that sense, the execution of my powers can hurt people. Information, whether good or bad, can be painful. I don't do any damage to the things I look at, or by finding that information. It is the revelations that can be damaging." She admitted.

She readjusted in her seat as she considered the suggestions. "If there is something in your apartment he used before he left, last thing he had, that might be a clue... it's hard to say where a trail will start until you find it. It honestly depends on where he went. I may be able to tell you if he was in a rush, something he was looking at last because the way it's tilted, something on his clothes that's a hint... I apologize if it's a bit confusing at first. Perhaps a good way to explain it is having the echoes is like having another voice constantly chattering in my head. There is lots of information, you just have to discern the useful bits and discard the rest."

So no harm then. No potential mind control or thought implantation, just the potential to have all her secrets laid bare. That was fine. It was probably better that someone know before she died. Some other than Calley, that is.

"From what I'm hearing, I don't think anything at our apartment will help. There's nothing there that hasn't been moved since he left even if it technically belongs to him." The place had been trashed according to Jude and Kat. Feathers and blood and broken glass. No. Nobody murdered a chicken. It was Sebastian's blood, a mirror and more than a few walls and soft surfaces ruined. Maya had been in the struggle that created at least half that mess. At no point that she could remember had Sebastian been there.

Maya tested the temperature of her tea by submerging her finger for long enough to see if it would turn the skin red. She did not have the tactile sensitivity she used to and didn't want to burn Rowan. He loved herbal tea. Once it was deemed cool enough, Maya tipped the cup carefully in his direction. He grabbed and held it as a grown up might, but then proceeded to slurp and lap it up with his tongue. Silly goose.

"The last time he was seen was at my son's work place. Ehm, our adopted son told Sebastian in no uncertain terms that he did not want to be his son any more. I had to go away suddenly for medical treatment. Jude thought Sebastian had gotten rid of me somehow." The blood, the apartment... It didn't seem so unlikely a thing. "I did get in touch with Jude, but the damage had been done and we haven't been able to track Sebastian down since." Practically the truth with only a few ugly realities omitted. Evelyn would permit her some privacy, surely.

"Does your ability work on photographs? If not the best place to start my be Future Sight, the fortune teller's shop where my son works."

Evelyn watched Maya as she spoke, and listened carefully to her answers. What a person said was important as what a person didn't, especially in situations like this. There was definitely some details she was keeping to herself, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. People had the right to their privacy. But she made not of it for later, in case one of those things turned out to be a key detail that they needed.

As the baby got settled with his tea, she listened to the rest of the story, picking out key details and letting the echoes store them away. Adopted son, rejection of father, possible accusation... That seemed like a tricky enough mix as it was. But there was sure to be more for such a lengthy absence to result.

"Unfortunately, my ability would only work if a photograph was of a particularly significant moment. While I can tell a persons emotions at the time the photo was taken of them, or perhaps judge their posture and attitude, photographs are limited. However, going to see the fortune teller's shop may help us go in the right direction. If he was one of the last people to see your husband, he may have noticed things in the interaction that could help find your husband. The trick is to help a person retrace to those memories." She mused, and sipped her latte. She let the flavors roll off her tongue as the echoes sorted themselves out in her head.

"For someone to be gone this long, there is a chance something kept him away. Even if there was a confrontation, that length of absence, especially when he was concerned about you." She mused. She made a note to try to sort out who else had been around that day. The more vantage points on a situation the likelier it would be that she could find some form of trail from one of them.

"I can take you to the store now if you have time." Maya checked her phone. This errand probably wouldn't put Rowan past his bed time. If it did, maybe he would fall asleep on her shoulder while they walked around the city. And maybe pigs would fly. She hefted the kid up into her arms and plucked the tea cup away from him before he could dump it on himself or her.

Maya had to glance at the cross streets to even know where she had walked. Her main goal had been to get away before. She hadn't even been paying attention to where she had been going. "Okay. This way. It's not too far, really." Just a brisk couple blocks. That was nothing for a New Yorker.

The guilt started to gnaw at her already. "I was the one absent first. For medical reasons." Not that it had originally been her choice. She cringed. "I just get the feeling that maybe we're both looking for each other, but... it's a big city..." Of course, he should still know the way home... unless something happened to him. She cringed again at the idea.

"Like I said. Complicated. We can probably rule out the local hospitals, though. I was just on the phone with them earlier this evening." And every evening since it had occurred to her that she could call and ask.

She'd babbled enough to get them to the store front. Future Sight. It had a small sign, large glass windows and a steel and glass door. Even from the street, the vibrant purple furniture and curtains were visible. "This is it. Do you need to speak with Jude, my adopted son?"