Generally speaking these days, if Lee was out of the apartment in the early afternoon, she was at the bar getting some work done. Especially on a Friday, trying to get as much work done before she needed to pick Kevin up from school.

Today was different. Today was an exception.

Since the rift had closed and Tarin (Kevin's father Tarin, not the other Tarin Brooks who had found himself trapped here) had disappeared, since Blaine never actually came back and the resources she'd been able to access couldn't find him either, Lee had pulled back on just about everything in her life. She had done everything she could think of, short of leaving New York again, to avoid the drama, the danger, the...one word could be adventure, she supposed, that seemed to come along with being a mutant. Lee had amicably broken ties with Haven and the X-Men in general, though she had kept in touch with a few friends over the years.

Such as Sam, who she was meeting for coffee that day.

Walking into the coffee shop that they tended to meet at most often wearing a dark grey skirt and a red tank top, Lee ordered herself a coffee and went to find a table to sit and wait.

It took too long, he was running late. Always running late. Even when he left early, late. Today it was because of a fire mystic. Not the one he was friends with, one that thought releasing a horse made of the ‘eternal flames of Hell’ was a good idea. He smelt like burnt hair. Sam did, not the horse. The horse was gone now, started some apartment fires further down town before burning itself out. Eternal needed an asterisk apparently.

Glancing down as he opened the door to the coffee shop he saw some soot on his knuckles. Even with the ice armor he still managed to show signs he was in a fight. He hated magic. ”I’m late! I know!” Sam said walking past Lee where she found a seat and went to order himself a coffee. A strong one at that.

Pulling a few dollars from his pocket and placing it on the counter he turned and made a B-line back to the table before setting his coffee on it and then dusting off his jeans before sitting down. ”Looking good Lee! As always. How have you been? Bar? Kiddo?” Sam said fixing his lone eye on her. He was trying to gauge a response from each subject.

They had been friends for years, even when Lee started pulling they stayed in touch. He understood. The city was a lot. Heck he was thinking of a vacation for himself soon. Anywhere without magic.

Sam was late. Not very late yet, but he was definitely late. Lee was just pulling her phone out to check the time when she heard Sam's voice off to her left. ”I’m late! I know!”

Lee looked over and saw Sam rushing past, making his way to the counter. Lee just shook her head and rolled her eyes slightly. Like she wasn't used to him being late by this point?

It really didn't take long for Sam to get a coffee for himself and make it back to the table she had claimed. Lee didn't miss the fact that Sam was dusting he l his pants off before sitting down. And she definitely did not miss the smell of burning hair as he joined her.

Lee’s nose wrinkled slightly at the smell, but she didn't say anything. Knowing Sam, it was some kind of X-Men altercation that had taken place recently enough that Sam hadn't had the time to clean up before meeting her.

She didn't say anything, though. That would have brought all those mutant drama issues she'd been doing a rather good job of avoiding in the last 6 years front and center. Even Sam has had been helping with that; even Sam had been good about that over the years.

But that still didn't stop Lee's eyes from giving Sam a quick once over checking for any injuries. She didn't see any.

”Looking good Lee! As always. How have you been? Bar? Kiddo?”

Lee smiled. ”Things are good,” Lee replied. ’Can you believe Kevin is 13 now? Apparently there's a youth MMA league, so he's been bugging me constantly about joining.”

”Thirteen?” Sam asked out loud over his coffee mug. ”Wow... I feel old now. You must feel that all the time.” Sam said teasing. ”Could be worse though. I was crashing helicopters when I was thirteen.” Sam didn’t have much of a childhood in fact his stopped quickly when he was five.. Something Lee knew enough about and something Sam didn’t like bringing up other than the occasional joke at his own expense.

”He’s starting at the mansion too soon right?” Sam asked curiously, ”I got a few self defense classes that would give him a good head start on the other kids in that league if he joins.” Sam said grinning.

Another sip of his coffee made him really appreciate that second shot of espresso in it.` It also gave him a second to think of the best way to ask. Especially if Kevin was going to attend the mansion soon. ”So... any signs of Kev getting powers? He Lifting cars yet?” he specifically left out Lee’s side effects with her powers. That was one of the subjects he learned to tiptoe around over the years.

”Oh, thanks Sam,” Lee said sarcastically as she reached across the small table to swat his shoulder. “You sure know how to make a girl feel good.”

As Sam went on to ask about when Kevin would start at the mansion, Lee took a sip of her coffee. “In the fall, most likely,” Lee answered as she set her cup down. “He would be switching schools at that point anyway, so it makes the most sense.”

Then Lee couldn’t help but laugh. “You say that like he hasn’t been trying to get me to teach him everything for the last 6 years already,” Lee told Sam, shaking her head. “But Kevin would be thrilled. Especially to be able to learn from someone who ‘knows how to fight’.” Lee rolled her eyes at her son’s believe that she didn’t actually know how to fight. Though, she was not exactly ready to share any stories with him that could convince him otherwise.

”So... any signs of Kev getting powers? He Lifting cars yet?”

Lee shook her head again then took a sip before answering. “Nothing yet. And honestly, that’s the main reason I haven’t let him join yet. The last thing I need is for his powers to show up right in the middle of a sparring match, or worse, a competition, with a human kid.”

”Don’t I know it.” he said smirking and already shying away from the swat before it landed. He was teasing of course but also knew what Lee was capable of if she wanted to land something more than a playful swat. His lone eye shifted from the tables and chairs being so close together. There be a lot of collateral damage. Good thing he wasn’t worried about that.

”He still doesn’t know what his mom is capable of?” Sam asked chuckling, ”You want to throw some gloves on and go a few rounds to show him off what you can do? Doubt he’d want me to teach him after that.” how much did Kevin know about Lee? What she can do. Sam figured the energy leeching was obvious but then again, Kevin could be immune to it.

”I’ll share some stories with him next time I see him. Might put you in a whole knew light.” Sam said jokingly.

”Doc can run a scan on him. They stopped doing the blood tests a while ago. Found out too many kids don’t like needles. Doesn’t help if they burst into flames while doing it.” or when he was a child freeze the doctor who performed the blood draw. He didn’t say the last part. Lee didn’t need to know all the details.

Sam took a sip of his coffee and then cleared his throat,”Might sound like I’m lecturing, I’m not. Just an observation. Can’t keep him in a bubble. Kids get into fights, be better to know what he is capable of then to have his powers trigger unexpectedly. At least he’s telling you he wants to join a fight club. Bring him by to check out the campus at some point. We just remodeled. He can see the danger room. Kids love that place.” the mansion was destroyed recently hence the ‘remodel’ though he was pretty sure Lee would have hear about it at some point. Even if she was trying to avoid the news.

Sam was already moving to avoid the swat before it had a chance to land. They had known each other a long time after all. And Sam did have a tendency to say things that resulted in Lee wanting to hit or swat him.

But then Sam asked about how much Kevin knew about what she was capable of, and she simply shrugged at first as she took a sip. “A bit? He's seen me train at the gym, but I don't normally spar when he's there. Not that that'd show him. The guys training there now don't believe me or the stories the trainers tell, so the few who will actually get in the ring with me go far too easy on me to be able to prove anything.”

”I’ll share some stories with him next time I see him. Might put you in a whole knew light.”

”Any stories I’d be ok with him hearing likely won’t change his opinion. I’m just boring old mum to him, remember?’

“And I’m not keeping him in a bubble. He’s been training and learning how to fight, to defend himself, since he was 7. It’s just….” Lee paused as she tried to figure out how to explain her reasoning. Because Sam knew how she tended to worry, but her decision on this wasn’t just her excessive worrying.

Right?

”There’s no need to push our luck on his powers emerging during a planned fight, you know?” Lee ended up saying. “And it’s not like having him wait a year or two to join the league will set him behind. He’s still learning and training.

“Especially since I know that between the two of you, he’ll be in the Danger Room every moment he can once he starts at the mansion.” As she finished speaking, Lee was shaking her head slightly as though in disapproval, though the slight smile curling the corners of her mouth showed she wasn’t going to be upset when it did happen.

”And sure, Doc could run a scan,” Lee continued with a shrug. “But honestly, unless it can now tell us when, or what the powers are going to be, I don’t see the point. It’ll happen when it happens. I’m pretty sure I was older than he is when mine started to appear, and we didn’t realize I was a mutant until I was 15.”

”Fair enough.” Mothers knew best. That was something Sam had to remind himself during the conversation. ”No telling if a planned fight even triggers a mutation.” he added. Usually it was a time of high stress or puberty. Lee’s from the sound of things was common timeframe for powers to emerge. His own not so common.

”He’s your kid. He’ll probably keep me in there longer than I want.” he smirked into his coffee mug. ”And if your powers are hereditary or some variation of it I’m sure he’ll have more energy than he’ll know what to do with.” Sam said raising his eyebrows.

”It would just be a check if he has the X-gene.” there were other methods to determine if he had powers what they would be. Precogs were unreliable at best though. The future was never set in stone from his understanding.

”Who knows, might even want on the Junior X- team.” he said floating the idea. Something he was sure Lee would disapprove of. The young X-men roster was full of teenagers who wanted to do good. Far less dangerous than the actual team but they did get to travel a bit. Usually search and rescue or crowd control.

“That's true,” Lee agreed with Sam. “Still, I'd rather not tempt fate and have it happen with a kid that had a bigot as a parent.”

Lee couldn’t help but laugh at Sam’s next comment. “Honestly, if what he’s like at the gym is any indication, you’re probably right. He never wants to leave there. It doesn’t matter if we’ve already been there for 3 hours that day. Even I’m worn out at that point, and I always make sure that I have extra energy to burn before we go.”

”Who knows, might even want on the Junior X- team.”

Lee actually groaned when she heard Sam say this. The X-Men had their purpose, she supposed, and she was friends with a few of them. But Lee had always thought that they tended to rush into danger far too often without thinking first.

She fixed a serious, almost pleading look on her face. “Please do not encourage that,” she asked. “We both know he’s going to manage to find enough trouble on his own without that adding to things.”

Nodding and fully understanding he agreed. No one should have to deal with bigoted parents. It was also more reason in Sam’s opinion to have Kevin do the screening for the X-gene, but he wasn’t going to continue suggesting it. Lee had her reasons.

He almost choked on his next sip of coffee at the groan. Was it that far out of the question? He knew Lee always had strong opinions about his team and the work they did but a groan? Her gaze was what solidified his thoughts. Grabbing his chest and coughing a few times. ”ooof. Yeah, I get it. For you, though if he asks anyone else running the teams you might have to talk to them about it.”

”Though it might be easier to convince the other team leaders if you came around a bit more.” he held up his hands to frame Lee’s face from afar. ”Maybe with a rookie status. You could pull off the suit. Heck you might even lead his team.” he was teasing now and knew it was a long shot but he still liked to surrounded himself with people he trusted. They were hard to come by as of late.

”Sounds like he is a handful now. Must get that from you. Energy to spare. Interesting.” he mused as he stroked his chin. Surprised the hairs on his face didn’t burn off during the recent altercation. Did he need a shave?

”I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin again. Sure he’s a cool kid.” realizing he was pulling the conversation to the team again he took a moment to sip his coffee and stare at the soot on a few of his knuckles.

Looking back up to Lee, ”How’s everything else? Feel like it’s been a bit since I saw you last.”

Sam didn’t sound happy about how she had reacted, but at least he said he understood. “Thanks Sam,” Lee said sincerely, flashing a smile across the table. “He just…with how much he takes after both of us, trouble is bound to find him one way or another. But I’d like to put off him going out and looking for trouble at least until he’s mature enough to think about what he’s about to do some of the time.” Was it going to work out that way? Almost certainly not, but Lee had to try.

But as Sam continued, Lee just shook her head. He never gave up. “You haven’t gotten me to join yet, do you really think that’s going to change after 15 years? But, I probably could start coming around more often.”

Energy to spare? For Kevin? No. ”The word I’d use to describe Kvein in the gym is determined. But if you think he has energy to spare from me,” Lee laughed softly. “Then you’ve forgotten what I’m like in the morning. I’m not even sure how I manage to get him to school half the time, my energy is so low.”

Lee took a long sip of her coffee as Sam asked how she’d been. It sure did feel like it had been quite a while since they’d seen each other, but had anything really changed in that time? Was there anything new? “The bar’s been doing well. We’ve even got a few bands set to play in the next few months that people might have even heard of outside a six-block radius of the bar. Otherwise, nothing else really new, but we’re doing well.

“How about you?”

”Yeah... I get it. Teenagers rarely think about things though.” Sam said in agreement. Sam said almost forgetting who the father was. Tarin could medium. They could see, speak and be possessed by dead people. That would have given the icemancer cause to get the screening. Energy vampire was one thing but seeing ghosts and hearing their voices... Sam shuddered and shook his head before taking another sip of coffee.

”Ah, the coffee dates.” Sam said remembering vaguely. They were friends then too, a bit more awkward situation then between the two of them but that was a decade ago and since then Sam grew as a person. Since then he had run into a telepath, lived countless lifetimes with a family that were a mind game for said telepath. Became an alcoholic, got clean. Adopted a friend who became a kid and even deaged himself.

”Don’t take this the wrong way but I vaguely recall you in the morning. I get hit in the head a lot.” he said chuckling, the mansion healer DocProf would argue too much. ”I just remember you could out drink me when it came to coffee.” he said honestly.

”Nice. I got a list of a few if you ever need any. Ones a former student at the mansion. Might have seen him or heard of him. Irish kid, more than trouble but he can get a crowd going... he’s booked for the next decade out on St. Patty’s day though. Lost a bet.” Sam didn’t mention who lost. Both parties would continued to argue that they were helping the other out.

The question should have been something Sam was prepared for. Staring off into the distance he wondered what was a safe topic for her other than his work at the bar. He was still trying to convince Lee to come around more. So should he mention the fact that it was destroyed recently? That they had mystics coming around so often to put wards on the school? That he had been tracking someone that broke into the school to test some magic on Mirror and Becca’s child without consent and stealing their toddlers daughters mutation? Something Sam personally felt responsible for seeing as he was laid out by the same person?

Should he talk about the summoned demon he slayed? That was kinda cool. No... Should he talk about Eve. She was a student at the mansion and now his adopted daughter. Also the resident firebug. No, that might fall under the drama category. He’d be the first to admit it was a weird situation. ‘Drama’ something Sam had decided to avoid for the sake of Lee.

Maybe the time he got kidnapped recently and had to have Liz and Carrick rescue him from his evil Ex-telepath that first played mind games with him? No... that probably wasn’t a good topic either. Nor the multiple relapses with alcohol he had recently. She didn’t need to know that.

He didn’t make eye contact. ”Same old song different day to boogie.” he finally said deciding that most of his life would have fallen under the drama category.

”Why does it not surprise me that you get hit in the head a lot?” Lee asked jokingly. ”Though, I probably out drink most people in terms of coffee before I even get out of bed.”

Taking a sip of her coffee, Lee nodded when Sam said that he knew of a few bands if she ever needed an act. ”Well, St Patrick’s Day is too hectic as it is without trying to deal with a live band. But thank you. I’ll keep that in mind if I’m ever stuck.”

And then the table descended into silence after she asked how he had been. Not because he had nothing to share. Not because he didn’t want to tell her. Lee could see that he was thinking, trying to figure out what to say, and as she waited she sipped her coffee.

”Same old song different day to boogie.”

Lee smiled across the table as she set her cup down. ”Thanks Sam. I appreciate it,” she said, then shook her head. ”Things have really been that bad since the last time we talked?”

>>>”Thanks Sam. I appreciate it,”

The icemancer smiled in response. It was a sheepish smile but while he could lie to a lot of people, Lee made it difficult. Sam didn’t say anything at first but then nodded his head into a cup of coffee. Wondering what he should say next. Should he just leave?

>>>”Things have really been that bad since the last time we talked?”

”I used to be good at lying.” he said finally. ”Long life.” he finally answered. ”It’s been worse before but it could be better.” he was struggling with his own coping mechanisms for his anger and frustrations. He hadn’t been as bad with the drinking as the past but his need to exhaust himself instead of dealing with the real problems were as bad as ever.

”I’ll spare you the details but I’m alright. Really. I will be at least. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.” he said looking to his sooted knuckles. One of them looked like there was a speck of blood ot it. He ignored it and took another sip of his drink.

”Maybe I should get going...” he said finally looking to the door. She requested no drama. He thought he could do that for her. She deserved it. Especially what she had been through with Tarin.

”Maybe you still are a good liar?” Lee said with a shrug. ”But I can just smell your bs when you do, so there’s no point trying?”

”I’ll spare you the details but I’m alright. Really. I will be at least. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.”

Lee closed her eyes and took a deep breath at this. Oh boy did she know that feeling; not being alright, but holding yourself together because other people needed help, and you knew that (eventually) you would be alright, so it was easier to just pretend.

As she took another breath, Lee opened her eyes to see Sam looking toward the door. ”Worried about everyone else at the mansion?” Lee asked, her voice soft. ”Because if Kevin’s going to be there soon, I do need to start knowing what’s happening. Or is this bigger than that?”