Shin sneezed. Then, he stared at the mouth piece of the phone and wiped it down. Had someone been talking about him? Naw. Probably just allergies. He hung up.

The Asian turned and looked to Lee... and didn’t see Green. What. The hell? Walking brusquely, he stopped in front of the woman.

”Did he go to the bathroom or something?” Shin asked, and did his best to school his temper and keep his voice mild, and not accusing or loud.

He’s been on the phone long enough for his target to vanish. And here she was, the woman he’d left to watch over the green jerk! Inquiring minds wanted to know, had she made a judgement call and let him go? Or had he overpowered her and broken free (haha). Shin had seen what Lee could do on a bad day. He really doubted that sort of thing would happen on a good one. Well... maybe he hadn’t quite “seen” it. But heard. And that’s even better for filling in graphic details of violence.

Elliott thanked her, and then quickly left the bar. Lee could only hope that he would heed her advice. Or at the very least that he would avoid her and her bar in the future so that she wouldn’t have to deal with this again.

And almost as soon as the green mutant was out the door, Shin was standing in front of her. Asking about where Elliott was. Did Shin sound angry? Lee blinked. She wasn’t sure she had ever actually seen Shin angry before, even in Romania. Though, at that time Lee had been quite distracted for one reason or another.

”No, Elliott’s gone,” Lee replied. There was absolutely no point in hiding that fact, but at the same time, Lee wasn’t going to sugar coat it, even for Shin. ”We talked, I told him to smarten up, and told him to leave. I’ll turn the wallets into the police in the morning.”

Then Lee paused, a slight frown crossing her face as she looked at the younger man. ”Maybe you need to have some sort of class at the Mansion about how to make a difference in this city without getting in trouble.”

So Elliott was gone. And Lee had Let Him Go. Told him to smarten up. Leave. Even though this was Shin’s domain. As a teacher, as a protector of the mansion and it’s students, as an X-man. It was his duty to keep people safe. And Lee had disregarded that fact.

He was angry, far more angry than he likes being towards a friend. After telling him she’d took the initiative and let his charge go, she then had the gumption to tell him they really needed a class at the mansion about how to make a difference in the city— a what.

His voice had an edge like one of his shards when he replied to her. ”We have that. For people that want to join the X-men. And for people too young to join. Are you telling me—“ Shin stopped himself. He realized his tone was getting away from him.

The Asian took a deep breath. ”Sorry, Lee. Apparently, I’m pretty passionate about my job. As a teacher I’m supposed to look out for mansion students, and help troubled mutants. And I’m a little angry with you for letting one go when I wanted to help him the only way I saw how. But you’re a friend. I shouldn’t have let my tone get away from me, no matter how I feel.”

“What did he say to make you let him go without double-checking with me?” Shin frowned at his friend.

He was angry at her for letting Elliott go because he was passionate about his job? Lee just stood and stared at Shin for a few moments, The music and the sound of the crowd preventing it from being a complete silence between them.

And then Shin questioned her, and Lee’s jaw almost physically dropped. ”Without checking with you?” Lee asked, a touch of anger entering her own voice. Last time I checked, this wasn’t the Mansion. It’s my bar, And beyond his appearance, which we both know he can’t help, you were about to make more of a commotion in my bar than he was.”

Lee shook her head, eyes glancing at the door. ”You want to be a mentor? Then go back to the mansion and be a mentor there, because this is the wrong place. He does live there, right?

“And what did he say?” Lee went on to ask, her eyes moving back to Shin. ”Nothing specific. I identified with him. Not everyone is lucky enough to have the Mansion when they’re young, and sometimes old habits die hard.”

Okay. He could have worded that better, too. Really, everything about this situation could have been handled better.

Shin’s eyes fulfilled anywhere from Lee as she tore into him. Part of him knew she was right about most of it, but part of him also knew he was right about some of his things too. He held his tongue and let her speak her mind, because that is what friends do. He carefully reeled in his rancor.

She finished. And Shin stood there for a second, before responding. He hadn’t ever told her about his past, had he? She wasn’t the only one who’d had things rough.

”I know.” Shin said. ”The mansion is pretty great.” He agreed. His tone was moderated, but there was an edgy undertone. ”If not for the mansion, I probably would have died on the street.”

“I used to run with gangs. Competed in underground fight clubs. One day, someone took issue with one of my wins and shot at me. My power activated and saved my life... while at the same time, destroying it. Lost all my credibility as a fighter because people pinned my wins on ‘being a mutant.’ Couldn’t fight because nobody would fight me, except the people at the illegal underground caged mutant fighting matches, and gee- this sounds incredibly convoluted, like some teenager wrote it after reading too much comic books. But the mansion took me in, when I was about to have nothing. And live on the street. And you’re absolutely right. Not everyone has that... which is why I wanted to help him.”

“Guess I’ll just have to find him and talk to him if he hasn’t run away.”

Shin fell quiet and let Lee digest the overflow of backstory. In hindsight, he probably could have just said “yes Lee you’re right,” and spared her the drama.

Lee was shocked when she heard Shin telling her about his past. She remembered the young man she had met so many years earlier at the Mansion. Kind, almost innocent, the kid that had taught her how to make jello because she’d had no clue.

Lee couldn’t make that image of Shin mesh with the knowledge that before that he had been in a gang and had fought in underground matches. It seemed impossible that the two could be the same person. But at the same time, this was Shin, and Lee didn’t think he was capable of lying, so it had to be true.


”My guess is he has been on the streets before,” Lee finally replied. ”So he might not come back for a day or two in the hope that you’ll have calmed down or forgotten. But if he has been living there, he will be back if only to grab his stuff. It’s what I would do. You never want to end up back on the street with absolutely nothing if you can help it.”

He took what she had said in silently, and turned things over in his mind. Lee was probably right. It was probably the sort of thing he would have done, himself, if he’d run into a situation like the one he’d put the guy in.

It never feels good when one realizes they’ve failed someone. Realizes they’re overreacted. Fouled a situation up, but hopefully not beyond repair.

”Yeah,” Shin said. ”I’ll keep an eye out. Try and help him if I run into him. Ease things back. I’m sure you’re right. I probably scared him. He may bolt. Can you do me a favor...?”

It was a lot, asking her for a favor after he’d blown up at her in her place of business, and generally screwed things up.

He waited for her reply, then spoke. ”If you see him again... can you try and help him, if he’ll take it?”

Lee could see the younger man thinking, taking in the things that she had said. He still didn’t seem happy about it, but he was accepting of what she was saying at least. That was fine. Good, even. Shin didn’t have to be happy about what she had done, but he didn’t get to be upset and yell at her like he had been.

Then she started nodding as Shin spoke. That sounded good, a good plan and a much better idea if he wanted to actually help Elliott. But then he asked her to do him a favour, and all Lee could do for the first few moments the words were out of his mouth was blink at him. After all of that, Shin was asking for a favour right away? What the hell?

That in itself was strange. Before the events of that evening, Lee wouldn’t have hesitated to do a favour for Shin. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t even spoken in years. Consciously realizing that fact made Lee’s face soften a bit and she nodded.

Only for her to laugh slightly when Shin put words to the favour he was asking of her. ”Is that all?” Lee asked, then shook her head slightly while still chuckling. ”Of course I will. Doesn’t mean he’ll take it, but I’ll try.”

Shin nodded. That was enough. All he could expect from her was to try. It would be up to the kid how he responded. Just like it was up to anyone else how they acted in life.

He thanked her, and then Shin respectfully made his exit. He’d gone into the bar to try and resolve the issue of a mugger, and bumbled the whole thing. He’d been rude to a friend. The best thing he do for them both at that moment was to be as polite as possible, and give the whole thing time. He’d smooth things over, with effort. There wasn’t much else he could do about it then and there.

Hopefully, that Elliott kid found a better way. He knew how hard street life could be. How easy it was to slip into crime. The kid deserved a better life than that. He deserved a chance.

Shin hunched his shoulders and stuffed hands into pockets as he slipped off into the night.