New York was famous for many things: bagels, pizza, ridiculously expensive hamburgers, and if you ran in the right crowd the city was even famous for their herbal tea.

Quinn had never been a coffee drinker. She didn't know how others on the force managed to choke glass after glass of the stuff at all hours of the day. Sure, the caffeine buzz was glorious, but there were just better ways. Plus, the right herbal blend had other benefits too.

Checking the time on her phone, Quincy Archer made her way towards the little hole-in-the-wall shop that had been recommended to her by some friends at the dojo. They specialized in tea, but the shop also sold knick-knacks of a spiritual variety that appealed to someone of Quinn's particular tastes. She didn't have to be back at the precinct or an hour. It was gorgeous out and she wanted some tea, so in she went.

A few minutes found the redhead at a little table that faced the street, sipping at her to-go cup and flipping through a book on tea combinations that she'd never seen before. Some days were just good days. The wind was blowing, the trash trucks had been running regularly for the last few weeks, so things smelled nice, and spring finally seemed to be wresting the city from the cold grip of winter. What else could a girl ask for?

Back when Nate first got to New York, he was a creature of habit, as were many of his craft. Consistency made things predictable, and predictability meant fewer variables to deal with. His first New York relationship started breaking him out of that pattern, since Quin was good at pulling him out of his comfort zone when she wanted to, but he still stuck to the coffee shops he liked, the restaurants he liked, and his walking paths in Central Park. (In his defense, his walks had earned him two relationships and a kiss, so sometimes it paid not to fix what was not broken.)

After spending the past four years in prison, Nate was committed to changing things up. Freedom was something he took for granted drifting around the country for so many years. Now that he had returned to society and was relegated to New York for the foreseeable future, Nate wanted to make sure there was no hidden treasure he left unfound.

Nate was typically a coffee drinker, starting most mornings with a cup to give him a boost so he could carry momentum to get him through classes, volunteering, and any meetings Devon asked him to attend on behalf of Haven. It was one of the secretaries in the Sanctuary who directed him to the hole in the wall tea shop when Nate was musing aloud that he needed a pick-me-up. Not wanting to shy away from his desire to branch out, he took her up on the suggestion.

Walking toward the shop, he was hit with a funny feeling of nostalgia. The shop was described to him as being filled with spiritual items, wall tapestries, and the scents of herbal teas. It was not the type of place he would consider to be his scene, but it sounded like something Quin would have loved.

And clearly, she did. As Nate walked toward the door to the shop, he passed an area of tables and chairs for patrons who wanted to enjoy their tea and the March weather. One vibrant redheaded woman was choosing to do just that, and before Nate could even see the face hiding behind that curtain of hair, he knew enough about coincidence to know who he had just run into.

”Quin?” His hair had been cut short and his body was more muscular from his time away, but his voice was still a dead giveaway to his identity, assuming she had not forgotten all about him.

There are quiet moments of contemplation, when the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the middle of a city doesn't seem so much like the middle of the city. Despite the fact that you are literally surrounded by millions of people, you feel peaceful and relaxed and almost manage to forget all of the hustle and bustle. Quinn was having one of those very zen moments as she sipped her tea, having set an alarm to make sure she got back to work on time, she had lost herself in her book and planned to stay that way as long as she could.

At least that had been the plan...Quinn looked up at her name, squinting into the sun as it silhouetted a figure standing in front of her.

Who was it? Eyes adjusted slowly, then widened with recognition. The voice had been familiar.

"Nate?" Good lord, how long had it been? "That is you, isn't it?"

So much for zen.

After the breakup, Nate and Quin drifted apart. Things were touchy after the breakup, and eventually they just had their own lives to lead. Nate ended up with Sarah, and after he found out about Megan’s lost child, he was struck by a crisis of conscience; he was teaching children and he was almost a father, and he was living a lie. Coming clean was the right thing to do, and that thought would have never crossed his mind without the influence Quin had on him.

He kept her name out of his mouth when he confessed; the last thing he wanted to be was the ex-boyfriend who ruined her life because she was merciful enough not to report him. He had wondered if she ever heard about what he did. He provided information when investigations came up relevant to the events of his past, but he worked mostly with the feds, so she might have gone almost five years without hearing his name—either of them.

And now she was just… there. New York had a mystic quality about it that shrunk the city down to create little moments that seemed so unlikely.

Nate stepped forward when she called him by name, moving so the sun was no longer on his back. It was good to hear her calling him Nate—after finding out about him, she took to calling him Stephen, which always felt like a reminder that his past was hanging around him. Eventually she warmed back up to him as Nate, but by then, things were already working toward their end. ”It’s me indeed,” he replied with a grin.

Nate had two ex-girlfriends, and he was currently dating the second one, so his practice in how to handle these situations was nearly non-existent. He considered taking a seat, but chose to stay standing; years had passed, but he was not in the position to sit down like everything was normal. She could very well tell him to walk away and stay out of her life.

But it had been over four years, and he wanted to believe there was space in their lives to move past what happened. ”I’m surprised to see you, but from what I’ve heard about this place, maybe I should have seen this coming.” It had been on his mind during the walk here; the shop sounded like Quin’s “element.”

Nate was not sure where these interactions started, so he went to the obvious. ”It’s been a while. I hope life’s been good to you?”

Quin was still doing mental math when Nate confirmed his identity. It had been almost 5 years. An eternity. Things had been so...messy at the end of the two of them. It was one of those things that had never really gotten resolved, then things with Ashton had happened and...

That was a bad train of thought. Quin grimaced a bit, and gestured at the chair across from her. "You should sit if you're not in a hurry to be anywhere." she said with a smile. Maybe this wouldn't be too awkward.

How was she? Quin frowned slightly, brow furrowing as she thought about it. How was she?

"I'm good, I suppose. Finally got my shield a few years back. Pretty much been focused on work since then." she said with a small shrug. She'd leave out the part about becoming obsessed with work and letting her personal life fall to shambles.

The problem was...doing nothing but working for five years left you nothing to talk about with an ex who randomly showed up. An ex that had apparently been using all of his free time to lift weights.

Awkward. It wasn't that she'd let herself go or anything, but seriously...

"I hadn't been to a place like this in a while. It was so nice outside, I couldn't resist. What have you been up to all this time?" She paused for another moment and sipped her tea.

"I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see you're still in town."

Nate got the invite to sit and join Quin, which was a good start. Their past was complicated, but Quin was a great part of his life once. He was with Sarah, so he had no desire to win her over to where they once were, but if he could earn her friendship, he knew his life would only be better for it.

Taking his seat across from her, Nate wished he had bought his tea before spotting Quin. It was not like he was desperate for the drink, but a tea would give him something to do with his hands, which felt restless. He settled on folding his arms over one another; after years of assuming it was best not to seek Quin out, he was not going to put catching up on hold to go get something as inconsequential as tea.

Quin let him know she had earned her badge and poured herself into her worth. Back in their relationship, Quin did her best to balance her job with their lives, but at her heart, she could be a workaholic. Still, it was hard not to smile wide. ”I’m glad to hear that. I always knew you would, Detective Quincy Archer.” If anyone in New York deserved to make Detective, it was Quin.

Of course, he knew he would have to take his turn if they were catching up, and Quin could not help but show some surprise that he was still in New York. When they first considered breaking up, Nate had considered leaving since the city would now have an authority figure who knew his dark secret, but ultimately, he ran with the risk in the hopes that she would leave him be and he could live the life he started with her.

Now the question had an extra element of humor. ”So, funny enough, I actually can’t leave New York City these days. It’s a condition of my probation.” He paused. ”You know, from the whole ‘going to jail’ thing.” There was more he could add, but Nate wanted to first take a moment to soak in the irony of telling his cop ex-girlfriend that in the four and a half years they had been apart, he wound up in jail where she probably always assumed he would end up.

Quin sipped her tea, silently grateful for the cup in her hands. It had cooled to a point where she could hold it now, and it was nice to have something to do other than fidget uncomfortably.

Dipping her head in thanks for the compliment, Quin racked her brain for something more to say. It wasn't that there weren't things, but it had been 5 years. Things really hadn't ended that well. Or had they? The revelation that she hadn't really known who Nate was had hurt something fierce. The revelation that his name had been a cover for a life of crime had been even worse. They'd tried again, it had been impossible not to, but it just hadn't worked. The crumbling of their relationship had been more of a slow decay than a catastrophic event, but that little ache of regret still persisted. Even after all this time...luckily, Nate managed to pull her from her thoughts with something that made Quin's eyebrows rise.

Jail? Probation? Well, at least it made more sense now that he was still in New York. It was easy to jump to conclusions, and Quin shook her head slightly. After everything, he'd put himself in a position to end up in prison.

"Well. Probation is better than the alternative, I suppose. It means you were on your best behavior while you were up the river..." Up the river? Quin winced internally, who even talked like that?

Curiosity was quickly getting the best of the cat, and in a bid to keep silence stretching too long, Detective Archer opened her stupid mouth again, "So who did you scam to get caught?" That hadn't been what she'd meant to say at all. At. All It had been something about how it was great that he'd turned things around, and putting down roots was good for a recovering nomad as well.

Instant regret. Quin hadn't had much social interaction over the past few years, but she figured that asking someone about their jail time after not seeing them for five years probably wasn't the best course of action, "Sorry..." she said almost immediately, cheeks coloring, "That's none of my business. I'm glad it seems like you've turned things around."

Awkward. So so so so so awkward.

Nate recognized right away that he left out an important part of his explanation to Quin about where he went and why he was still in New York, and that was the “how” of him going to prison. It would have been easy to tack that on once it dawned on him, but Quin was already reacting to his sentencing, and why ruin the fun of letting her assume the worst.

Her eyebrow arched, and she shook her head, meaning she clearly jumped to the logical conclusion. It was fair, even if it insulted his pride. He had to bite his tongue when she tried shine a silver lining on his experience using a phrase he doubted had been in use since the days of cheesy detective flicks and noir films.

Then she flat out asked who he was trying to steal from when he got caught, which was when even Quin caught how poorly that question could have been taken if he was actually busted for his crime. Quin was on the good side of the law, and that rarely meant having to empathize with a criminal ex-boyfriend. She was in new territory and she was riding a struggle-bus all the way through.

She immediately and fervently apologized, and Nate could no longer keep a straight face, breaking out into the kind of laughter he had to cover his mouth with his hand for so he did not seem as rude as he was. ”Okay, first of all: up the river?” He could not let that go without at least acknowledging it. ”Secondly, I’m offended on two fronts. I’m offended to think that you think I would have gone back to crime after we broke up, and I’m equally offended that you think, if I did, that I would have ever gotten caught.” When he was a thief, he was a darn good one, and he refused to belief turning himself in tarnished his perfect record; he willingly retired from the game.

When he finally stopped laughing, he could elaborate and clear up what he meant. ”I turned myself in. Some pretty redhead left me with a conscience I had to deal with. Add onto that the teaching, and a few other… wake up calls, and I thought it was the right thing to do.” He wanted to avoid the “I was almost a father if not for a miscarriage” story if possible, because it would only seem more confusing when he finally mentioned Norah, which felt unavoidable given how much the girl was going to be a part of his life moving forward.

Oh good, Now he was laughing at her... Quin couldn't help but roll her eyes at the outburst and purse her lips in irritation as Nate got ahold of himself. The flush on her cheeks was definitely indignant anger, it had nothing to do with embarrassment.

Composure regained, Nate pointed out the issues he had with Quinn's questions. There were two main points.

The first did a lot to sway Quin's anger to more of a thoughtful silence. Honestly, it wouldnt have surprised Quin all that much to find out that Nathan had gone back to a life of crime after the breakup. Breakups were hard, and when they happened it was easy to throw yourself into the familiar. Quin had thrown herself into work in a few different ways after things with Nate had gone south. It was frustrating to find that she had underestimated his resolve.

The second revelation was even more distressing, in a way. He had turned himself in? Come clean about everything? To the cops? Gone to jail intentionally? Grown a conscience?

Quin just sat for a moment, a bit dumbfounded as she processed this new information. Why wasn't she more surprised? Why didn't she feel anything more than empty and a bit bitter? Was that regret mixed in there too? It was all well and good that he thought this was all so funny but...

"Why didn't you tell me?" Quin finally said,. "Phone broke again?"[\color]

The redhead paused for a moment and took a sip of tea she didn't even taste, "Maybe I could have helped...character testimony or something...."

Nate was not the type of man who would have ever intentionally gotten his girlfriend mad, because when they dated, Quin was an adept hand-to-hand fighter who also frequently carried a gun. When she did naturally get frustrated with him, as happened in all relationships, it was always worth noting that her angry look was almost as adorable as it was intimidating. Almost.

It took her a moment to process what happened, which was fair; when he was sitting in a cell that first night, Nate had to take a moment of his own to process the decision he made. Quin had been with him and found out his secret, and part of her always struggled to reconcile the man she loved with a man who would lie about and hide from his past. He could only imagine the conflicting emotions she might be feeling toward Nate finally coming clean to the world, and doing so without her.

It made sense, then, that her first question was why he had not reached out to her sooner. It was hard not to appreciate how her first instinct was how she could have been there for him when he came forward, even after all that happened between them. Quin was a genuinely good person, and Nate never forgot that.

Which was part of why he never reached out. ”Quin… we had gone our own ways. You dealt with the crap I was dragging along for longer than you had to. There was no way in hell I was going to drag you back in to deal with my mess.” His secret added undue stress to Quin’s life, and if she had managed to move forward and put all that behind her, it would have been selfish to ask her to return just as everything was hitting the fan.

”Think realistically, Quin. If I brought you into it, how many questions would they have? They’d want to know what you knew. They’d ask if you knowingly avoided turning me in yourself.” Nothing could have been a more complicated choice than the day Nate decided to romantically pursue a woman of the law. ”You deserved your shield, and if your past with me might put that at risk in any way… it would not have been worth it.”

When Nate turned himself in, it was always his priority that no one else would be sucked into the scrutiny that would come as a consequence of his decision. ”I had to do it alone. I didn’t even tell the woman I was seeing at the time. I let the Mansion know they were about to lose their art teacher, and then I vanished…” There were plenty of thoughts and feelings influencing his decision making at the time, and he would like to believe there were more noble thoughts than selfish ones.

Gone their own ways. Well. That was one word for it. Quin didn't like to think of it really. So much had happened, and so much had been ended up so very bad.

Nate's reasons were good enough, Quin supposed. It was funny that now everything was said and done she didn't question the validity of his words. Time and distance gave you something that love couldn't, no matter how real it was. Perspective. So many more things made sense now, and there were so many more grey areas than Quin had ever wanted to admit. She listened quietly while Nate explained his reasons, finding it more and more difficult to look at him across the table.

"You weren't ever one of the bad guys Nate," . Quin said, setting down her tea cup and looking up at a sky full of cotton candy clouds. She had met the bad guys, one after another. A shield was an accomplishment, that was for sure, but detective work had its disadvantages as well.

He said she'd moved on, and Quin didn't miss the subtle reference to the woman he had been seeing when he turned himself in. It only made sense, and it wasn't like Quin had resigned herself to a life of pining after she and Nate had split. Still, it was kind of hard to hear, even after all this time. Reality was a nasty bitch that way though, and actions tended to have consequences. Still...


" You never were one to do things halfway either.". Jail for mutants was no joke. They had those collars they still used to make sure powers weren't used and had the unfortunate side effect of labeling your genetic status to the whole population. The prosecutor would had to know that turning yourself in was always done at great personal peril for a mutant. A thought occurred to Quin and she frowned a bit.

"Who took care of Parker while you were gone?"

Nate was feeling surprisingly less awkward than he anticipated when he took a seat with Quin. Maybe it was freeing just to be able to catch up and speak freely and honesty. She was not questioning what he did or his motives for doing so because he had nothing to gain from lying to her. Lying had been such a touchy subject near the end of their time together, it was just nice to see time allowed them to move past it.

It was comforting to hear she never saw him as “one of the bad guys” though. The little moral victories. ”Thanks. I can’t even imagine the ‘bad guys’ you come across these days… well, I mean, kinda. I guess they were probably like the guys in prison, but less… captive.” Prison had been a delicate balancing act of being smart enough to survive without getting so smart he did something to gain unwanted attention. Some of the guys who were brought into the system were intimidating enough there, so he could not imagine what it was like for Quin to deal with them when they were loose in New York.

The way Nate dropped Sarah into conversation was not meant as a jab at Quin; they were both adults, and it had been almost half a decade. Neither of them left the relationship and took a vow of celibacy, after all. That thought had Nate wondering… ”You still partnered up with Ashton? You know, as detectives. Or, I guess whatever else.” He knew enough at the end of their time together to know Quin’s working relationship was complicated, so he was curious if it resolved itself in one way or another.

While Quin had an Ashton to account for, Nate had a Parker. The thought that Quin still thought about the giant spider made him smile; it was never easy introducing him to girlfriends, but the beast had a habit of finding his way into their good graces. ”A far too accommodating colleague at the Mansion watched him while I was away. A cat-sized spider is not the pet for everyone.” Nate had considered asking Quin for help, but that just returned him to his commitment not to bring his mess into Quin’s life without him.

While Parker had his own charms, some people could not get past the idea of what he was, which limited the relationships he could form. There was one relationship he still had not introduced Parker into, and it was still a major concern for him. ”Heck, Norah hasn’t even met the little guy yet.”

Nate said he couldn't imagine the types of bad guys she'd ran into on the job and Quin had to frown a bit. "Oh, I'll bet you can." she said, mentally ticking off just how many people she had put away since the last time she had seen Nate. It was more than one would have thought, and if he'd been in prison then... "Chances are you met some of them... Besides, I have a hard time drinking beer." ...and entering her apartment without a hand on her gun...and a whole multitude of new neuroses that had manifested the last few years. You didn't play Detective in special unit and walk away without every kind of imaginable scar. That was beside the point though.

Here was where the conversation got uncomfortable. Quin had been surprised how comfortable things had been so far. It had been easy to fall into old habits, and conversation had never been a problem for her and Nate. At the mention of Ashton's name however, the redhead visibly winced. If her relationship with Nate had ended badly then what had happened afterwards had been then relationship equivalent of the Hindenburg...no, there hadn't been enough casualties there...the Titanic.

"I don't work with partners." she said guardedly, running a hand back through her hair and shaking out the loose pieces that clung to her fingers. It was true, she hadn't had a partner since the very beginning of her tenure as a detective. Nobody wanted to keep up her pace, or go after things as hard as Quin did. She had built up a bit of a reputation. That was fine. It was easier that way, and she had perfectly strong and appropriate working relationships with everyone she needed. That didn't exactly answer Nate's question, and she knew he had never really liked Ashton, so she took a moment to try and figure out what else to say. "Let's just say that Detective Drake and I haven't worked together for a long time and leave it at that.".

Despite the uncomfortable knot that had now formed in Quin's stomach, she was glad to hear that Parker had been taken care of in his owner's absence. The creepy little thing had a way of clicking its way into your heart and it deserved better than abandonment. How long did giant spiders live, anyway?

And there was a Norah. A Norah who hadn't met Parker. Quin couldn't help but smile a bit ruefully, "Well, make sure you clue her in before you take her back to your place. As sweet as he is...Parker can be a bit much to handle at first."

As a conman, it was always important for Nate to pick up on social cues. There were always little hints to be found in a person’s choice of words, tone, face and body language that could all provide insight into the meaning behind their words. With that being said, Nate could have been born without any social graces and still had a clear understanding of what Quin’s answer regarding Ashton meant: there is no more Quin and Ashton, and if you have any sense, you will drop the topic and move forward.

Nate’s curiosity was dwarfed by his desire not to anger Quin, who he was enjoying the company of once again. She no longer had a reason to arrest him if he pissed her off (not that she ever would have,) but despite the muscle he did add to his frame in prison, he had no doubt his ex-girlfriend could beat the curiosity out of him. Instead, he smiled, nodded, and replied, ”Fair enough. If you are ever in the market for another partner though, I’m just floating the idea out there: Police Spider,” he joked, picturing Parker in an improvised vest riding shotgun in Quin’s vehicle.

The way Quin responded to his mention of Norah piqued his interest, as he realized the way he presented his situation, Norah might have sounded like the new woman in his life. While it was true Nate was seeing someone, Sarah was not his biggest concern at the moment, (until he had to break the news of Norah to her, which would be challenging at best.) It was all he could do not to laugh, but he held his tongue.

Yes, the revelation of Norah in his life was a major challenge he was stressed about. Nat still had him on what was basically father probation, with the young girl still unaware of his true role in her life. Everything in his life was going to have to change to make room for Norah, and while he was happy to do it, it would be a lie to say she did not complicate everything for him. His bastard daughter was a serious matter to him, and normally would not be a joking matter.

Still, life only gave so many perfect moments to take advantage of.

”You’re probably right.” He ran his fingers through his short hair, feigning thought and contemplation. ”I’m going to want to give her the heads up. I don’t want to get in a situation where she gets off on the wrong foot with Parker. I love my pet, but I really want to keep this girl in my life for a long time.”

Nate took a moment to pause and cover his mouth for a fake but convincing yawn, finally elaborating with, ”You know, considering Norah is my daughter and all.”

He saw there nonchalantly, wishing he had taken the time to grab a tea of his own. It would have been the perfect way to punctuate the reveal.

If nothing else, Nate was perceptive. He always had been. At least the topic of her and former partner had been dropped. Quin didn't want to talk about it, especially with Nate. The conversation had been going so well, there was no reason to spoil it with talk of all that.

Officer Parker, reporting for duty. Quin chuckled a bit and shook her head at the idea, "As nice as the image of the perps running at me when they catch sight of my giant partner spider is..." she let the sentence trail off.

Apparently talk of relationships wasn't off limits though. Nate started to go on about this new girl and Quin kind of wanted to gag. Was this the sort of thing you just started talking about out of the blue with your ex-girlfriend?

Quin kept listening as he spoke, what else was she supposed to do? At some point a weird, tight little smile had plastered itself across her features and it stayed there until Nate mentioned another piece of interesting information.

Well. At least someone at the table had been getting some over the past few years. In her shock over the revelation, Quin forgot to be angry about the wool that had momentarily been pulled over er eyes.

"Well. You have had a busy few years." she said, "Congratulations are in order."

What else did one say in such a situation?