Rachel looked back and forth between Lee and Tarin as they spoke, as they argued about this. Yet the way that they were arguing just went to prove to Rachel that there was more going on between them than they had said. Maybe more than they were admitting to. Her mind was already plotting; her sister may be stubborn, but there had to be a way to force them to notice.

Lee was too busy talking with Tarin at this point to have seen the look on her sister's face. “Alright, we can see what we can figure out. Maybe there is more that can be done,” Lee allowed, her expression softening a bit. “But you still didn't make a mistake.”

But then Lee had spoken to Rachel, and Rachel's attention snapped back to the present rather than her plotting. “Well, no, I guess you wouldn't have,” Rachel said slowly, thinking about how much Lee had always worried about Kevin being safe.

Rachel then turned a thoughtful look towards Tarin. She had been shocked to begin with, but he was a rather good looking man. If this is what Lee had to do to let someone get close again…well, Lee had shot down every other attempt Rachel had made.

“I guess you can stay,” she finally decided as she turned her eyes back to the man in front of her. “For now.”

Rachel said that he could stay, and while Tarin nodded to acknowledge what Lee’s sister had said, he was still looking at Lee.

Why was she so insistent on absolving him of guilt for what had happened. He knew from the nightmares he was still having every night that he absolutely did deserve to feel something. Some sense of responsibility, otherwise who would?

Still, he pulled his attention back to the matter at hand and smiled at Rachel, “I’m glad to hear it. I’ve finally got things organized in a way that makes sense. I’d have hated to pack it all up again.”

Lee was still returning Tarin’s gaze as Rachel spoke and she saw Tarin nod. Lee knew that he didn't look happy, well who really would with what they were talking about? But beyond that, she really had no idea what the man was thinking.

“Oh wow. thanks Rach.” Lee replied, her tone mildly sarcastic. “Thanks for deciding who I can have in my own apartment…”

“Of course Lee,” Rachel replied happily. Then she stood up suddenly. . “But I'll leave you two kids alone now. Have a great day!”

And just like that, Rachel was standing up to leave.

Quick visit. Tarin thought wryly as he watched her head towards the door.

Rachel had good instincts though, Tarin couldn’t help but think. Even if she should have known more about Lee and how Lee’s powers worked, Rachel had asked the right questions and had stopped pushing when Lee had drawn a firm line.

Rachel had also decided not to be an impediment to his staying. That definitely made things easier.

Once Rachel was moving to the door, Tarin let himself slump back into the couch. He’d already been physically tired and putting on a bit of a brave face, but now he was just weary.

Weary and wondering just how much trouble he was going to be in with Lee for pushing about a story she clearly didn’t want him to know.

And Rachel was up and ready to leave now. Though Lee did have to roll her eyes at how she said goodbye.

Shooting Tarin a slightly apologetic smile, Lee stood up and followed her sister to the door. She honestly would not be surprised if Rachel tried snooping on her way out if left on her own.

“We’ll hang out soon,” Lee said as she let her sister out. “But no stories you’ve heard from Matt, ok? I don’t need my powers to beat you up.” That last was said with a bit of teasing tone, but Lee meant it; if the choices were Rachel telling those kinds of stories to people or beating Rachel up, Lee would choose the latter every time.

“Like you could,” Rachel replied, grinning at Lee. “You know I’m too sweet for you to do that. But we’ll talk more."

Closing the door, Lee just leaned her forehead against the door for a moment before making her way back to the living room. “I’m sorry about all that with Rachel. I’ve learned it’s just easier to get it over with because she’ll just keep pushing.”

Lee left to escort Rachel to the door and make sure she left and Tarin let his eyes close for a few moments as he worked to gather his thoughts.

The conversation with Rachel had brought things back to light that he’d managed to push to the back of his head and some of the newly established confidence of the last few days had diminished. Rachel had made good points that were important to consider going forward.

Lee returned and apologized for…pretty much all of Rachel and Tarin had to laugh a little as he opened his eyes, “I’m starting to think that persistence is a defining family trait. Do you have any other siblings that are going to randomly show up for an FBI style interrogation?”

That said, Tarin sighed, “She is right though. This entire thing is absolutely crazy.”

As she sat down on the couch again, Lee laughed with Tarin at his comment about there being a family trait. “That is probably quite accurate,” she agreed but then sombered a little when he asked about other siblings. “For an interrogation? No, doubtful. But my older brother is frequently in the city.” Lee wasn’t about to tell Tarin what Robert’s issues with her were regarding merges. Not until and unless it was necessary.

“It really kind of is…” Lee agreed, her voice quiet. “And yet, there have been times when my life was even crazier than all this, and I’m still here. So we’ll get through this, too.”

Oh boy, there was an older brother too. Hopefully they wouldn’t be showing up any time soon. For the first time in decades, Tarin found himself wondering what his brothers were doing. What their lives were like. If he had nephews or nieces in another world that he’d never meet. These were things Tarin usually carefully avoided thinking about because it simply wasn’t productive, but seeing Lee interact with her sister… Seeing how Rachel had dropped basically everything to take Kevin out of the country when Lee had asked, made it impossible to not wonder.

“Do you ever wonder what it’s like to have a normal life?” Tarin asked, carefully avoiding eye contact. “To not have to constantly drop wildly emotional bombs on the people in your life because they simply don’t exist?”

It was almost funny…almost.

“How are you so…normal in spite of everything you’ve told me and all the things I’m pretty sure you haven’t.”

“Do you ever wonder what it’s like to have a normal life?”

Lee sighed, an almost wistful smile on her face. “I used to. All the time,” she said, her voice soft as she thought back. “What would it be like to wake up and not be more tired than when I went to bed? To not be worried about what my touch might do to someone….

“Then we, well he, decided and convinced me that, because of who we are, ‘normal’ as most people would define it would never be possible, so we had to define our own version of normal. Which had to include the crazy things we had no control over.”

But then Tarin asked another question, and it was one that she actually had to think about. How was she so ‘normal’ with everything that had happened, everything she’d done, everything she’d been through? There were plenty of people in the world who were far more screwed up after experiencing far less than her.

“I’m not sure,” Lee finally admitted. “Maybe because the craziness grew up slowly? Maybe some part of me decided I would deal with it, but not let it change me?” Lee’s voice dropped even more at this point, her own eyes now looking at her hands. “Maybe because I buried it all so deeply that it didn’t affect me until I had a literal mental breakdown?”

It seemed like the other Tarin had also had something of a persistent streak and had insisted on redefining what normal meant. Kudos to the man, honestly, Tarin thought…because it was no easy feat. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how different he and his counterpart really were. The spirit at the Empire State Building had said it, but that Tarin had clearly led with his heart, and it seemed more and more that he’d worn his personality like armor and wielded his powers like a blunt object.

But look at everything the man had accomplished. It was a weird juxtaposition with his own life, a life that had possessed more than its own fair share of crazy, but also couldn’t light a candle to the flame of what Lee had expressed.

And it had taken a toll on Lee, Tarin realized as she explained that she didn’t know how normalcy had become a reality for her. It would have taken a will of steel to simply decide to let so many things not affect her. To bury it all deep down. Until she couldn’t anymore. Until Lee admitted that at some point she’d broken down.

“Every person has their breaking point.” Tarin said, “There’s only so much a person can handle before they snap.” This had been the point he’d tried to explain to Lee the other day at the shop when they’d spoken about his teenage years in New York. The reason for everything had been to find that breaking point and make sure they wouldn’t snap if it was crossed.

“I’m sorry you found yours.” he said a bit woodenly, thinking about that shadowy place in the back of his mind and wondering just what its capacity was like. Maybe he wouldn’t have to find out now that he had some help. “And I’m sorry that I’m dragging you back down into that kind of drama.” He wanted to tell her again that he should leave, but at this point he couldn't form the words.

Everyone has their breaking point? Lee supposed that was true. And apparently hers was having a severed head hit her during an all out mutant brawl during an attempt to destroy a not yet developed virus that they learned about after a massively shared dream of the future. A dream which still to this day caused her to worry on occasion because she didn’t know where her daughter was.

Lee’s eyes widened in surprise and shock as she thought about it like that. In a straight-forward description of that day. She had lived it and it was still unbelievable.

But then Tarin was apologizing for bringing all of this back to her life. Lee shook her head as she finally looked up at him again. “Honestly, it was bound to happen at some point, one way or another,” Lee told him. “The last 5 years have been more normal than any other time in my life. But something was bound to happen eventually. I mean, it always has before.”

“Honestly, it was bound to happen at some point, one way or another. The last 5 years have been more normal than any other time in my life. But something was bound to happen eventually. I mean, it always has before.”

Something was bound to happen. Something to bring down the normalcy that had reigned in Lee’s life for the last 5 years. The timing wasn’t lost on Tarin, even if it seemed to be lost on Lee. The lack of life-shattering events, trauma, and disaster in Lee’s life coincided quite strongly with the timing of the rift closing with her ex and his powers on the other side.

The realization was a blindside that Tarin hadn’t seen coming and he very very carefully kept his thoughts from showing on his face. Lee was not going to be open to a conversation on this point.

This had all been a huge mistake. He’d let his mental state and Lee’s sheer force of will steer him into not considering what he was letting her take on.

“Some people have all the luck…” he said, then checked his watch and sighed, “As entertaining as this morning has been…I’ve got some things I need to take care of at the shop before the first appointment.”

He didn’t actually have anything he needed to do, but suddenly Tarin needed to get out of the apartment. Suddenly he felt like he had a lot to think about.

“I’ve got appointments until pretty late, so I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Lee frowned. There was something going on in Tarin’s head right now, but Lee couldn’t even begin to guess what it was. Whatever it was, it felt like it was important, but this was definitely an expression she had no memory of seeing.

And then he was suddenly saying he needed to get to the shop. Lee’s frown deepened, but she didn’t argue the fact. Maybe he did actually have something he needed to do that he hadn’t mentioned. She had simply asked when his first appointment was. How would she know any better? She hadn’t worked in the shop in a decade, and it hadn’t even been his shop anyway.

“Ok,” she said to him, the frown still on her face. “See you later, then.”

Out of the apartment Tarin had hurried, skipping the elevator to jog down the stairs a little more quickly than was necessary. It was better than standing in the hall to wait on the elevator, then stand inside the little box as it descented. It wasn’t anything like the Empire State Building, but somehow the stairs were the better option.

Once he was outside, Tarin took a deep breath and it helped him clear his head a little bit. He had things to figure out and a walk tended to help. A run would have been better, but he wasn’t dressed for it and didn’t have the time to change, run, and shower before the appointment that he actually had. The walk would have to do.

Was he right, or was he just spiraling? Tarin knew it was a thing he did, had done, for as long as he could remember. The way he’d grown up, it was always too easy for him to try and take the responsibility and blame for things he often had little to nothing to do with. Was that what this was, or was he making a mistake that wasn’t just going to affect him, but Lee and her son as well?

What was it he had seen or read? He was only really in control of his own actions. Other people had autonomy and were able to make choices on their own that didn’t directly involve him even if he was adjacent to the situation.

Lee was emphatic that she was doing exactly what she wanted to do. She had been the one to insist on helping him. She had been the one to insist he stay at her place. She had been the one to ultimately offer him the spare room.

Lee had decided those things, he’d only agreed because it made sense. It was disingenuous to take away Lee’s ownership in her own decisions.

It was easier to breathe now. Easier to make sense of everything that was happening. Much easier than when he had to look at Lee, much easier than when he had to see how she still hurt after what he had done to her. Much easier than when Rachel was there, insinuating that there was more to the situation than met the eye.

At the shop now, Tarin unlocked the door and went inside to start getting things ready for the day. There were already a number of spirits gathered and he simply wasn’t in the mood. Work beckoned though, and there were some things Tarin needed to do, so he set about doing them.

And just like that, Tarin was out the door and gone. Which left Lee sitting on the couch, honestly wondering what had just happened.

Despite some of the topics that had been brought up since Rachel had arrived and burst in, overall Lee had thought they’d had a decent conversation.

Actually, Lee thought as she ran through what they had been talking about again, the conversation had gone amazingly well considering she had actually mentioned her mental breakdown after that fight outside a lab. Lee didn’t think she’d even mentioned that since she had last seen Dr Rossi until today.

So then, what had happened?

They’d been talking about wanting normalcy in their lives. She’d actually had normalcy, or at least the closest that would pass as normalcy in her life, for the last 5 years.

Until she had found him covered in blood in Central Park.

Yes, it could have been anything that had destroyed the normal in her life. But it hadn’t been ‘just anything’. It had been Tarin, it had been a merge.

“Shit…”