Shin shook his head. About everything. But mostly the last thing she'd said. "You didn't see him snap a woman's neck. I don't think anyone can help him..." His voice was quiet, contemplative, cautious and haunted. He didn't make eye contact when he told her about it. The images were too fresh in his head. "Not to say someone shouldn't try. Just... he needs saving. From himself." If anything, that was it. Shin wasn't about to suggest they throw him under a bus.

... Though if the guy came at him, monstrous cop killer that he was, he'd probably find himself under a heavy moving object, or beneath something sharp. Self-Defense. And preventing further loss. Shin didn't tell Kealey those thoughts, and he wasn't going to. If push came to shove, she would not be losing her husband. And that was that. He didn't doubt himself there (though he was sure he would, afterwards. It's just how he was.)

Kealey shook her head, "No." she said, gently but firmly. "You saw that monster hurt someone." Even if Kealey had to admit that she was relieved that the woman's mutation had saved her life, didn't mean she had to change her mind.

"He was genuinely scared and confused and horrified. What he needs is help. Not jail."

That said, Kealey looked steadily at her husband, an inexplicable shudder running through her.

"Sometimes, jail is help." Shin answered her quietly. It wasn't an answer he had a lot of importance behind, but it was something. He was a cop. The law said if you went around murdering people, you went to jail. He couldn't really offer anything but law enforcement. If she wanted that, she was putting him in a hard place. "As a cop, it's the best I can do." He added, with a bit more emphasis. There was a small amount of worry and discomfort in his eyes. Sitting where he was, he could see her, but there was no way other than listening or asking her to find out what she was feeling.

He brought up an old topic again. "I won't make you look weak again in front of the police." He knew she'd promise the same. "Like I said. I have complete faith in you. I was just worried, and freaking out." And that wasn't fun to admit. At all.

"So you're not one of us anymore?" Kealey said, eyes narrowing slightly. Suddenly it was easy to be angry again, and she let it flow, "Maybe I'm not talking to you as a cop right now." That statement hung in the air between them.

"And while I appreciate you saying you won't make me look weak, I think I was doing just fine on my own. Thanks."

"What exactly does 'one of us' mean?" Shin asked. Because he didn't have a clue. One of the human race? An X-man? A person? An American? One of a billion other combinations of verbs and nouns, of which Kealey and him could claim similarity? Because he felt that he was the same person he ever was. As for all the other stuff.

"And I know you were. Like. I. Said." Why was he gritting his teeth? "I. Was. Afraid. He would. Tear. You in half. And I would see your. Internal. Organs. Streaming." 'Cut. Me. Some. Slack.' he left unsaid.

She was making him flustered, or angry, or irritated. Something, but at least he was talking like a person now instead of a robot employed by the NYPD.

"I knew what I was doing Shin. You had him restrained, and I had a feeling about his....feelings." her voice was calm, lacking all the pauses and stops that Shin's had at the moment. "And I know a thing or two about feelings. You watched him hurt your friends, and you wanted to let them take care of it their way."

What had she meant by, "us"?

"And I meant an X-Man." she said quietly, not pointing out that the whole reason they were having this conversation was that he'd encouraged her to try out, and she had succeeded.

"And don't patronize me."

"I'm not patronizing you," Shin forced some calm into his voice. He met her eyes, and his wavered with the flame of intense emotion. "I literally saw him killing those cops and thought "No. Not Kealey." I was so many emotions. Angry. Scared. Worried. Courageous. Murderous. And not really heroic at all. I was worried he would snap you like a Twix. So I tried to get you out of harm's way, to prevent that. Because God help me, I love my wife. How I handled those emotions made you look bad. I'm sorry. I won't let personal emotions like that make me weak when it counts again."

He took a breath to breathe, then shook his head as if the rest of everything were a little silly, and he had to clear his head for it. "My personal feelings about the mutant in question don't really matter all that much. We can help him. We can prevent him from killing again. We can take him off the streets by rehabilitating him or putting him in a cell, or doing something X-man-like, and taking him to the mansion and teaching him to control himself, but whatever we do, the law is the law, and his mutant half still killed all of those people. Even X-men have to obey the law, Kealey. Regardless of the tough situations it puts us in... It kind of hurts that you'd question me being an X-man. You know if I could help him, I would... how would you do things differently, in my shoes?"

"I would have talked to the man." she said, "Because he is a completely different thing from the monster."

As for the jail. Kealey shook her head.

"You forget that I have unique perspective on the whole, 'jail' thing, Shin."

She shrugged then, "I think I can help him." she said simply.

As for the rest, "I love you too, and I'm always scared when you're out there, because you'll do all you can to uphold the law and all those other honorable things you do."

He nodded once, understanding her. He got her stance on jail, same as her stance on talking. She had that sister in prison, and prison hadn't done much to reform her. It was true, jail didn't often reform people. But sometimes, they just needed to be taken off the street. "Okay," He said gently, to everything she'd said. "Police usually do try and talk down people. I tried it when he was big. I can try it if I ever run into him again when he's small. For him." Shin said, mentally adding 'and you' to the end of the thought. "If we can help him, we will. You and I. As X-men. And as a cop. As long as he's willing to be helped."

"I'm sorry I make you worry," He added, frowning at her. "I guess the situations are nearly the same." Nearly. Except he didn't always deal with hulking monstrosities hellbent on killing people. Only some of the time. His eyes didn't reflect the wry humor of that inner thought.