Things had been good lately. Very good. No over protective brothers trying to physically force their opinions on others. No nosey sisters barging in without warning.

Kevin’s powers had emerged, and even that had gone well. No dramatics, no damage, and no one being traumatized, whether Kevin or someone else. It had gone about as perfectly well as Lee thought was possible.

Her own experiments with her powers hadn’t been going quite as smoothly. No, it wasn’t that they weren’t going smoothly. Rather, she hadn’t been as consistently successful with them as she would like. Lee had had far fewer nights stuck awake than she would have ever expected to in a relationship, which was amazing.

Far more, though not every night she wanted to sleep had worked out so far.

She was also trying, and most of the time failing, to find the balance between having enough energy to go running with Tarin in the mornings and not taking too much energy from him the he would struggle to get through the day. Which in her mind meant she needed to take the least amount of energy she could while still taking enough to run.

And the only times she didn’t seem to struggle to make it the full three miles were the mornings after she hadn’t slept.

And that day was no exception. Lee was struggling. Struggling, but she was at least making it the full three miles.

Things. Were. Awesome.

Tarin still wondered if he was dreaming sometimes. It was like he’d been absolutely stuck in stasis for a vast majority of his life. Even when he’d come to this side of the rift things had felt safer, more calm, but he’d still just kind of been existing.

Then. Quite possibly the worst thing that had ever happened to him had happened.

Then. Quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to him had happened.

Now life had settled into this comfortable rhythm that had Tarin grinning and humming along with his music as he and Lee ran through the park.

Something had changed though. Lee was struggling. Tarin could tell that she was, but she seemed determined to finish the run this morning. He’d slowed down a bit for her to keep pace, something that he’d hardly ever had to do in the past, unless she was really low on energy. That shouldn't have been the case though, if the amount of time they were spending together was any indication.

Something wasn’t quite adding up, and as they worked their way through the last half mile of the run he tried to figure it out.

How long had Lee been struggling to keep pace on their runs? Tarin tried to think back and remember. When recently had she had enough energy to make it through the runs? When was the last time she’d taken a run at night?

”You okay?” Tarin said, glancing over as they ran,

Morning run. It was something Ranger didn’t do often. Why run for a while when you can sprint for a fraction of the time. Several times. Yet, life changes so Ranger found herself out several days of the week. Running.

It was exercise, sure. More importantly it was a time to clear her mind, be alone with and process thoughts. She hadn’t had a lot of time to do that lately without budgeting it. She had a threenager back home.

The problem was that Ranger was the mama. Noel had decided Emma needed a mom and she wasn’t going to be good at it. For a while Ranger had just been a dad heavily involved in his daughter's life. Now often enough when Ranger was out with Emma she was the mom instead of the babysitter to those around her. So, Ranger made it a point to have someone watch Emma so she could go be with her thoughts, without work or the kid. Also an opportunity to go back to less bright clothing. Emma liked pink. A lot. And it made her happy when Ranger wore it or other bright colors so she did. No Emma meant black ranger panties and a gray tank top the Blackforest Tactical logo on it.

Running had other benefits too. First, it gave Ranger an opportunity to get more familiar with her new body. It was completely different from her male form and spending only about half her time in the form limited how adaptable she could be until she was more comfortable with it.

Second, she could run into people she knew.

Slowing down, Ranger waved at Lee and said, ”Howdy, fightin’ buddy.” Then Ranger recognized the man she was with. The man from the fight with the drag Bananarama tribute band. Ranger had to stop herself from greeting him in a way that indicated they had met before.

”You okay?”

Lee glanced over to see Tarin looking at her. She was definitely breathing a lot heavier than would generally be normally for her. At least what had been normal before she started her experimenting.

Nodding, Lee tried to give Tarin a smile as they continued running the last bit. ”Fine,” she said simply. Even though she highly doubted that Tarin would believe that with the way the word came out.

Then Lee saw a figure approaching them that was familiar. And was waving at her. Thank goodness an excuse to stop running early that didn’t have anything to do with her not having enough energy.

Slowing down then stopping, her hands on her hips and breathing still heavy, Lee smiled at Michael. ”Hey,” she said, lifting a hand in a small wave. Yeah, that was all that was being said at the moment as Lee focused on her breathing.

Yeah…Lee absolutely was not fine. Tarin was already slowing down when another runner approached from the opposite direction…another runner who apparently knew Lee.

As Lee stopped running, Tarin followed suit and could see just how much she was struggling to catch her breath and he frowned just slightly as as she waved and spoke to the woman who had stopped them.

The woman looked familiar, but Tarin couldn’t figure out where he would have possibly known her from. It hadn’t been the bar, they’d only been there once and they hadn’t stayed very long. It wasn’t the gym…Tarin was sure he’d have remembered meeting someone that was this familiar with Lee. But if he hadn’t met the woman…why was she familiar?

”Hi.” Tarin said affably, still trying to figure out who this woman was, but not remembering the video he’d now seen several times.

Lee returned the greeting as she stopped running. The man she was with stopped as well. Lee seemed out of breath, Ranger assumed she must have been at it pretty hard. Lee had shown she had a lot of physical ability when she had sparred with Ranger.

Ranger looked down at her wrist where she had a fitness tracking watch on the underside of her wrist. She’d gotten through most of her run for the morning so she could afford a break.

The man from the Bananarama incident greeted Ranger as well. Ranger held out a hand to the man, ”Howdy, I’m Michael.” Lee appeared to be catching her breath, so Ranger introduced herself to the man with Lee.

Glancing at Tarin as they stopped running, Lee knew that he hadn't bought her ‘I'm fine’ response. But she would be. She just needed to catch her breath and get some more energy.

And Tarin wasn't even saying anything about her being so out of breath during their run. It was fine.

But first the breath, Lee decided as Tarin greeted Michael in that verbose manner he always seemed to have with everyone except her.

Followed by Michael introducing herself.

Breathing was starting to get easier at this point, so Lee briefly turned her attention to her second need, energy, and upped her siphoning slightly now that it wasn't just Tarin with her.

But easier breathing meant that speaking with more than a single word at a time was once again possible, even if her breathing was still heavier than normal. ”Haven't seen you at the gym,” Lee said. ”This is my boyfriend Tarin.”

The woman held out her hand and Tarin reached out to shake it as she introduced herself as Michael. Was it an interesting name for a woman? Maybe, but then again his name was Tarin so he didn’t have much room to talk in that respect. ”Nice to meet you.” he said as Lee introduced him by name, as her boyfriend, and he shot her a quick grin.

Lee had said that she knew Michael from the gym, but Tarin hadn’t seen Michael there any of the times he’d tagged along with Lee and/or Kevin.

If Lee knew Michael from the gym, and Tarin recognized her, but hadn’t ever met her at the gym, where…

It clicked a moment later.

”Oh! From the video.” Tarin said, ”That was a hell of a fight.” he said, secretly glad that Michael hadn’t been at the gym. Lee had been black and blue for ages after the last time and while he’d have never said so, Tarin wasn’t looking forward to a rematch between the two.

”Likewise.” Ranger said, she felt a little odd saying it knowing she had sort of met the man once before. Though, no names were exchanged.

Lee was still breathing a little heavier, but clearly had it under control when she mentioned she hadn’t seen Ranger at the gym. She also provided the man’s name. Tarin.

Tarin was a much better name, and a much faster to reference name than ‘that guy from that one time where I fought a drag Bananarama tribute band out of costume in the park.’

”Haven’ had the chance. Work, keepin’ track of a threenager, an’ sometimes I’m jus’ not myself.” Ranger said. She had meant to go back by and hopefully spar again with Lee, but she only went to that particular gym when she was in her present form and only when she had the time.

Then Tarin caught Ranger’s attention. He exclaimed something about a video. From context he clearly meant that Michael was the person in some video. Ranger cocked her head and asked,

”There’s… a video?”

Which, of course there was. There was a video on ViewTube of a fight between her male self and her AV self in the AV. Swinging a car like a paddle and all.

The grin that Tarin gave her when she introduced him as her boyfriend looked so happy for such a simple thing, Lee couldn't help but smile.

Well, calling him her boyfriend now was a simple thing, especially around someone who didn't know any of either of their histories. And was definitely easier than trying to come up with a label for them a couple months ago.

Then Michael was explaining why Lee hadn't seen her at the gym, and Lee nodded. With that list, it was understandable. ”I don't envy you there,” Lee replied. ”It can be hell trying to keep up with a kid at that age. Even more so if you don't have the energy to.”

And mornings with a younger Kevin had been pretty horrible for Lee, basically the entire time they were in Toronto until after moving back and she'd started working at the bar. Then, the only reason mornings weren't horrible was because she generally still had plenty of energy from the night before.

And it was then that Tarin realized that Michael was Lee's sparring partner in the match that had ended up online.

A video that it sounded like Michael knew nothing about. ”Yeah, someone recorded it. I would have had no clue they put it online if not for my son. I swear he's watched it at least a thousand times himself. Despite offering to help him train for six years, apparently he had no idea his mum could actually fight.”

Lee and Michael were chatting now about why Michael hadn’t been to the gym lately and it apparently involved a small child. Tarin could only imagine.

Lee commented on how hard it could be to take care of a kid that age and Tarin had to think about how especially difficult it had to have been for Lee with Kevin at that age. As difficult as mornings were for her when nobody was around to give her energy…

Something occurred to Tarin as that thought crossed his mind and he looked over at Lee as she talked with Michael about the video and how much Kevin had liked it.

”She isn’t exaggerating.” Tarin said, ”Every time we turned around for weeks, Kevin was showing people that video, and suddenly had a very keen interest in Lee’s training.”

Tarin smiled. They’d talk later about that thought he’d had later.

”He even said she was cool.”. Tarin didn’t know why, but he was downright chatty this morning.

Lee seemed to understand. She must have a kid herself. Ranger nodded in agreement with Lee, it can be and often is hell keeping up with the kiddo. ”Last time I brought her t’ the park she found herself in the Bethesda fountain. I swear I’d only looked away five seconds. Lord help us if the little menace gets one of ‘r some blend of her parents’ powers.” Ranger said it with a smile. Emma was going to be a hell raiser when she grew up and Ranger couldn’t be prouder.

It was a terrifying thought. If Emma wound up with some combination of Ranger’s physical prowess and Noel’s memory erasure and lie detection, she would be a force to be reckoned with.

Ranger already had enough weird memory issues from living with Noel before and after the de-aging and having spent some time in Noel’s body with her power.

Lee confirmed that someone had recorded and posted it online. Ranger would have to look it up. Seeing your mistakes makes it easier to improve. What Ranger found herself laughing at was the description of Lee’s son, having been told that Lee could fight, finally believing it and showing everyone he could.

”That's pretty adorable. Emma spent a couple weeks tellin’ everyone at work about the one time she saw me flip a truck. Then she discovered horses were real. An’ y’ know how that goes.” Ranger said before rounding back to address an impressive statement. ”Kevin said y’ were cool, eh, Lee? High praise from a… How old is Kevin?”

Michael described what happened with her daughter the last time she'd brought the child to the park, and Lee laughed. ”I swear, children that age must have super speed or something,” Lee replied with a shake of her head. ”But I'd much prefer Bethesda Fountain over Turtle Pond in the fall.”

As she finished speaking, Lee snapped her mouth closed quickly. That hadn't been something that Kevin had done; other than visits with his father, Kevin hadn't been in New York at that age. And Lee hadn't been with him during those visits.

Thankfully, Tarin was now explaining to Michael about Kevin and the video.

It had been years since this had last happened, when Lee had made a comment like that about a memory she couldn't actually remember, but felt so real. A comment about a little girl who had never actually existed.

It had been years since it had last happened, but was still as jarring as when it had happened 15 years ago. Almost as jarring as waking up from that dream had been.

”He even said she was cool.”

”Now that is something I wish I had a video of,” Lee added.

Then her eyebrows rose in surprise when Michael said her daughter had seen her flip a truck, and had spent weeks bragging about it. Until a new discovery became much more important. ”That’s exactly how it goes at that age,” Lee confirmed with a shake of her head and slight smile. ”It will be for a few more years. And most times it'll be impossible to guess which new things will become The Most Important Thing to her.”

Michael went back to question the fact that Kevin had actually called her cool, and Lee laughed slightly as she nodded. ”He's 13, and that's exactly why I wished I had gotten that recorded; he's not likely to admit that again any time soon.”

As Lee and Michael continued to discuss the merits and pitfalls of child rearing, something Tarin had less than no knowledge of, he continued down the line of thought that had started to occur to him a few moments before.

The only time he could remember Lee struggling as bad as she’d struggled this morning had been the first time that they’d ran together. Sure, there had been days when she hadn’t been able to run literal circles around Tarin the whole time, but he didn’t know if he’d ever really seen her this exhausted after a couple of miles.

Lee looked better now, but that only solidified the idea of what Tarin thought was happening more firmly in his mind. If he was right…

Wait. Had Michael said that her own kid had seen her flip a truck? In a world with mutants it was never wise to judge a book by its cover, but damn, a truck? Michael wasn’t much shorter than him, but looking at her didn’t suggest she could flip a truck. Then again, Lee was tiny, and Tarin knew for a fact what she was capable of doing.

”We definitely missed an opportunity there.” Tarin agreed when Lee bemoaned their lack of evidence of Kevin admitting his Mom was cool.

Ranger laughed, ”Oh? That sounds like the voice of experience. Emma splashed down early Spring. Still cold, but much cleaner water.” Ranger shook her head, ”I’ve learned t’ always have a spare change of clothes f’r the both of us.”

Lee mentioned that at three you never know what things will be the kids most important thing. Most importantly to Ranger, Lee mentioned it would be a few years. Ranger nodded, appreciating the wisdom of someone who had been there before.

”Jus’ gotta do like me. Most of where I live has camera coverage. I live in an apartment above my business s’ that’s a little easier.” Ranger said, ”Which I think what I do f’r work is pretty cool, but I guess Emma might be destined t’ think it cheugy… Do kids still say that? Anyway—jumpin’ out of planes, blowin’ up doors, an’ drivin’ burnin’ through ten-thousand rounds in a week is pretty normal f’r her mom an’ me...” Then Ranger, remembering how she looked, amended, ”...her other mom.”