It had been far, far too long since Lee had seen Shin. Why did she always let this happen?

Well, Lee knew the main reason was that Shin was busy at the mansion a lot of the time, between teaching and his X-Men….stuff. Yeah, Let’s just call it that. And with her having been trying to avoid mutant drama, adventure, danger, whatever you wanted to call it, the mansion was just about the last place to go, what with all of the teenage mutants and the X-Men there.

But she had still wanted to catch up with Shin, and he had even had time during the day to meet with her. So Lee had arranged to meet him at the E 61st St entrance to Central Park. That way, it would make things easier no matter what they ended up deciding to do.

And speaking of needing to do something, Lee had needed to go for a run that day. An occurrence that was becoming more and more common of late. And while running at night would be far more conducive to her actually sleeping, Lee did not think that was a good idea at present.

Just as she didn’t think she would end up having enough time to have a decent run after meeting with Shin, so she had decided to just do it before. Which left Lee walking up to the entrance to Central Park they had agreed on wearing black jogging pants and a light grey t-shirt.

And also still sporting the large, still purple bruise on her right jaw, and another, thankfully more faded bruise peeking out from her shirt on her left arm. Both (and more) courtesy of her sparring with Michael the previous week. She knew Shin would have questions (there had been a lot in the previous week), bu Lee had discovered that answering was actually easier than trying to fully cover the bruise with makeup.

Lee Mother-Friending Smith. Holy friendly Christ. What.

Say whaaaaaaa

Blast from the past. He had not seen her in, what— he really did not want to think about the numbers presently. Feels bad. But, she had reached out to him and set up a meeting in Central Park, and hell yeah, I’ll go see you in Central Park! Good chance to visit and talk about what we’ve been up to. So that was arranged.

E 61st St entrance to Central Park.

E 61st St entrance to Central Park

E 61st St entrance to Central Park

Where was it? Oh there it was.

He flew there, on a square. No, not a forest green triangle, folks, a square platform. And it was blue. The shock. The horror. Why!

He landed his square (it feels weird to even think about it) by the entrance to Central Park, and dismissed it in a flurry of rapidly vanishing baby triangles.

He, too, was wearing the black jogging pants and grey t-shirt. But why again? Just to stand out? It was the agreed-upon wardrobe, so— But he had also worn the black baby Bjorn for Michael, his barely two months old son. Front carry, forward facing his body. Snuggled up against his chest, sleeping, as Shin wore the colossal diaper bag (navy blue), on his back, and tried not to teeter. He sure hoped she didn’t want him to go jogging with him, because — the sight of her cut him short.

”Hey.” Shin awkwardly scratched his jaw. ”You got something right about— here. Um. Anyways. What’s new?” he smiled.

As she had waited for Shin, Lee had grabbed a water from a nearby vendor. Yes, water rather than coffee. She had just finished a two and a half hour run around the park. And the fact that she had time to do that as she waited did not mean Shin was late. Since Lee had no idea where in the park she would have been, so she had made sure that her reminder alarm gave her plenty of time.

But finally, Lee saw a figure approaching. A familiar figure despite the time that had passed since they had last seen each other. Walking over with a smile on her face, Lee was about to greet her old friend when he awkwardly scratched at her chin.

”Really?” Lee asked sarcastically. ”I didn’t notice once in the past week I had a huge bruise on my face.”

Lee laughed slightly as she shook her head. ”Sorry, sparring match that got very…intense,” she said, her voice a much more normal tone, though it started to get a bit excited as she took another step closer. ”But are congratulations in order? Who’s the little one?”

>> Really?” Lee asked sarcastically. ”I didn’t notice once in the past week I had a huge bruise on my face.”

”Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. I once missed that a student was cutting class for a week. Another student with perfect voice mimicry sat behind them, and covered during attendance… to be fair, the student was invisible 90% of the time. Now I call on them all the time, any they get to wear a hat.” Shin chuckled.

It was fun to make the invisible person write equations on the board. Floating marker. Floating eraser. Invisible, but audible, counting on fingers. A floating ball cap. He had contemplated shades, but… that was taking things too far. Weird perspective, from behind. Powers were funny. The invisibility only worked on clothes when activated, but while running, new stuff stayed visible. That is, unless the Invis did not work on clothing at all. Which was… a topic for another day.

Lee explained the bruise: sparring match, gone wild. Fair enough. He nodded. How else are you gonna spar? Sometimes people get hit. The goal is learning how to handle that.

She asked about his kiddo. He smiled.

”This is Michael. Kealey and I had him about two months ago. On St. Patrick’s day.” He said. Some people have corned beef. They had a kid. ”He’s pretty awesome. Number 1 skill so far is napping.” He would let her guess number two.

Lee laughed as Shin described a kid with invisibility who managed to skip class for an entire week without notice. ”Well, really Shin,” Lee said, shaking her head. ”Most people would skip class if they were invisible. I know I would have, at least a few times.”

When she explained the bruises, Shin simply nodded. Lee threw her hands up in a gesture saying ‘finally, someone gets it’. He understood that the purpose of sparring was to teach you and prepare you for an actual fight, and the only way to do that was to spar like you would fight, at least some of the time.

Then Shin went on to introduce the baby, and Lee stepped closer to take a look. ”Michael? That’s a great name for a handsome little man,” Lee said with a smile, then looked up at Shin in surprise. ”Really, the 17th? What are the odds that both of our kids would have the same birthday?”

She looked at Michael for a few more moments, it had been so long now since Kevin had been that small, before she turned to look at Shin again. ”I’m glad to hear he naps well. Are the nights just as good, or does he try to pull all-nighters already?”

> ”Well, really Shin,” Lee said, shaking her head. ”Most people would skip class if they were invisible. I know I would have, at least a few times.”

He was scandalized! But She had him there.

—

>> “Really, the 17th?” Lee said. “What are the odds that both of our kids would have the same birthday?”

”Small world!” Shin exclaimed. Shared birthdays? What a wild coincidence. It was like someone up there really liked St. Patrick’s day babies or something!

The baby snoozed, through all the “look at me, I’m so adorable. All shall worship, and despair” moments.

>>> ”I’m glad to hear he naps well. Are the nights just as good, or does he try to pull all-nighters already?” Lee asked.

Oh. Oh yes. ”Kealey is presently sleeping,” He confided discretely, with a murmur and a shielding hand by his mouth so the baby would not hear and get ideas. ”It’s great. He’s great: we put on old television sit coms at night so he will learn to sleep through anything, but sometimes, either that keeps us up or the midnight feedings or bathroom times, and you know the drill. I am still getting used to it but I would not trade it for the world.”

He had bags beneath his eyes. They were happy bags. Full of shadowy warmth.

Lee nodded as Shin explained how things were going with Kealey and the baby and sleeping. Though Shin did look tired.

There had been many long nights with Kevin when he didn’t really seem to sleep, or he would wake up every 30 minutes, it seemed. However, Lee never really had to experience the whole constantly exhausted new parent thing because she could always get energy to stay awake with Kevin while Tarin had gotten some needed sleep.

”Well, if you ever need a babysitter, or need a night to just get some sleep, I’d be happy to help,” Lee offered with a smile. ”Even if he’s not sleeping at night, I honestly wouldn’t mind. It’s far easier for me to find the energy to stay awake than most people.”

Though, Lee realized after she offered, she really wasn’t sure how Kevin would be with a baby. His only cousins were Doug’s kids, and he didn’t see them often, and hadn’t when they were babies.

A wry smile twisted his face. ”How would Tarin feel about you having a baby over night?”

How old was her kid now? Probably in his teens. It had been a minute since a baby had been around the house for them. With all its nuances.

He suddenly felt bad. He had completely lost track of them, for, what, like a decade? Lee was an old friend, like, prior to wizards being introduced to his world, prior to rips in reality and alternate universes, or people who made others younger than they once had been. Prior to any dramas and reconciliations anyone ever had had ever in their lives ever, and loads can change in ten years. Maybe even eleven. He was a bad friend. He could do better.

”Sorry. That’s a weird question to ask. How are—“ He mentally hit pause. ”Hey let’s find a bathroom.” For the kid.

”How would Tarin feel about you having a baby over night?”

Lee frowned slightly. How did Shin know that Tarin was staying, living, at her apartment now? Of the few people she was aware that knew, Lee didn’t think that any of them knew Shin. In fact, Lee didn’t think any of them even knew about Shin.

Lee shrugged slightly. ”I don’t know,” she ended up saying. ”Honestly, I don’t even know if he’s been around a baby before. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s even more uncomfortable than when he met Kevin. But it’s not like I’d be asking him to help with Michael, so it shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

But then Shin was mentioning finding a bathroom. ”Sure, there’s one up this way,” Lee told him, pointing off to her left before starting to walk that way.

He asked ‘bout Tarin. Why did she frown tho?

Her words? Yeah, very perplexing. Confusing. She did not know if he had ever even been around a baby before? What? What?!

But—

She said a lot more stuff that was very strange, but then the baby decided today was the day for a change. And he would make Shin make the change, so— every other thought went by the wayside and, suddenly they were searching out a toilet in Central Park. But he thought about what she had said, the entire time.

They walked that way to the bathroom. As they did, they talked that way.

”So. Wait. Tarin has not seen a kid. But I thought he had.” Shin said. 100 feet. It was a 100 feet away. The bathroom. Then they could be rid of the terrible smell. ”Because, Kevin?”

While they were walking toward the bathroom, Shin started talking about Tarin. And Kevin.

Lee’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on, why they were both so confused. They were talking about two completely different Tarin Brooks’.

”Wait.” Lee said, no longer confused about who they were talking about, but very confused about how the misunderstanding had happened. ”You didn’t…How did you not…But surely I…or at least someone would have…” Yeah, that wasn’t going to help straighten anything out, was it?

Lee took a deep breath before looking over at Shin. ”You don’t know what happened with us? With Tarin?” Lee asked, her voice quiet, confused. Concerned. ”It’s the whole reason I pulled back so much.”

>> ”You didn’t…How did you not…But surely I…or at least someone would have…”

He stared at her.

She took a deep breath.

>> ”You don’t know what happened with us? With Tarin?” Lee asked, her voice quiet, confused. Concerned. ”It’s the whole reason I pulled back so much.”

”Oh,” Shin said, quietly. Then added: ”No.”

He felt foolish. He had missed something, something big and obvious and in the middle of everything. A big red button that would make the explanation roll across the screen, like in a Star War.

75 feet, now. He kind of wished it could be 0, so he could step inside a bathroom and clean up the little guy, if only to vanish for 5-10 minutes and avoid an awkward situation. But no such luck.

”Did you two, like, separate? And I missed the memo almost a decade ago? That’s, like, worst case scenario. So I’m probably wrong, and it’s worse.” He said. And stopped to lean against a tree. Let out a sigh. Rolled up his mental sleeves. Since his t-shirt sleeves weren’t long enough. And waited for bad news.

Shin didn’t know. How in the world had Shin not known about this? He was, had been, friends with both her and Tarin. Yet somehow, he didn’t know about her leaving New York and going to Toronto. Didn’t know about the divorce. He didn’t know about the rift…

”Apparently you did…” Lee said, her voice slow and quiet. ”I went to Toronto, didn’t feel New York was safe for Kevin when he was a baby but he wouldn’t come with us. The divorce was finalized ten years ago.”

Lee still couldn't understand how Shin hadn’t known this. Had Tarin not spoken with Shin after she left? Lee knew that she’d seen Shin after she came back. How had this not come up then?

”Then when the rift closed…I can’t think of any reason he would have to go over there,” Lee continued with a shake of her head. ”But the rift closed, and Tarin didn’t come to pick Kevin up. There’s been no sign of him, alive or dead, since.” And Lee had looked. At first with the resources she had been able to use at Haven before she left, then her own researching, keeping an eye out for weird news stories and using a slew of keyword searches, all resulting in nothing.

And the woman on the top of the Empire State Building said that she had looked for him on her side but didn’t find him.

”For whatever reason, he must have been over there when the rift closed.”

>>> ”Apparently you did…” Lee said, her voice slow and quiet. ”I went to Toronto, didn’t feel New York was safe for Kevin when he was a baby but he wouldn’t come with us. The divorce was finalized ten years ago.”

”Oof.”

That felt bad. How could he have missed all of that? Very easily, it seemed. A lot of things must have come up, and him and Tarin must have had a falling out. He could not even remember that far back, truth be told. It was wild.

>>>
”Then when the rift closed…I can’t think of any reason he would have to go over there,” Lee continued with a shake of her head. ”But the rift closed, and Tarin didn’t come to pick Kevin up. There’s been no sign of him, alive or dead, since.”

Bigger oof. Shin visibly winced. Some friend he was. “Had been”, he supposed. Biggest oof ever. Yikes. He kind of clenched his teeth.

>>> ”For whatever reason, he must have been over there when the rift closed.”

Shin cursed. Damn. ”I knew about the rift, but not that he went through… I went through. Got locked up for a long time by that world’s version of SUPER… had to basically relearn my ability in order to break free… so I guess it makes sense I might have missed that. But I still feel awful. I am so sorry, Lee.”

This was the absolute worst. Tarin, gone?

But, wait.

”You talk like Tarin is back. But, not The Tarin. The original, so— what is up with that?” Shin asked.

So weird.

Shin was wincing as she laid out in broad strokes what had happened over the last decade. It was pretty bad. And what made it even worse is that somehow, for some reason, was that she obviously hadn’t been around and talking to Shin nearly enough in that time. If she had, he would have known all of this long before now.

But he had gone through the rift? AND Shin had been locked up by SUPER. Lee couldn’t help but flinch at that, not after what she had heard about them from Tarin.

When he apologized for not knowing, for missing all of that, Lee nodded slightly, her lips pressed together. There really wasn’t much to say about that at this point. ”What did they do to you? Were you ok? I’m glad you did manage to get away, I’ve heard some stories…”

Then Shin was asking about Tarin, which Tarin she was talking about as she had just explained how Kevin’s father had disappeared when the rift closed. ”That…is kind of weird,” Lee admitted. ”He didn’t show up to pick Kevin up, so I went to look for him. When I was checking the shop to see if he was there.

“He wasn’t, but Tarin, the Tarin from the other side of the rift, was there checking the place out because he’d had a shop in the exact same place in his world.”

It had been weird, but that was what had happened. Then Lee’s eyes glanced in the direction they had been walking before looking back at Shin. ”Did you still need the bathroom?”