”Were you mixed up in that too?”

”It was that year,” Lee said softly as she glanced over. ”I don’t have good enough luck to have missed dealing with all that.”

Though, as the talk moved to Columbia, and Michael made the comment about dealing with the cartel, Lee was surprised Tarin didn’t speak up. Not with how much he loved her so-called ‘superhero name’.

”Oooh, Slate was well aware of my thoughts,” Lee informed Michael. ”He’d just seen what I could do, and with his healing, I don’t think hitting him would have made the point any clearer.”

”Could’ve given his brainpan a new skylight.” Ranger shrugged with a half a grin. It was more of a joke than a real suggestion. Ranger’s sense of humor was not improving with age. ”That’s fair though. As long as he knew he was in the shit, I guess that can work… Speakin’ of, after our fight I’m curious what can y’ do? If y’ don’t mind me askin’. Y’ had my power really rampin’ up. Been a while since it got me goin’ that fast.”

Ranger liked discussing powers, especially other physical powers. While hers was beyond her conscious control—and seemed to ramp up to meet the demand—she could find people to test her power against or draw out its heights if she found the right person. That or she got to hear about a cool power or cool way people who could control their power could use it.

Michael didn’t think the fact that Lee had made her feelings known to Slate had been enough. She thought that Slate had needed a another hole in his head.

God, it was all so violent.

On the other hand, Tarin was a bit surprised that they’d joined up after that too and that Lee hadn’t done more than give the younger man a piece of her mind. Tarin added it to the list of questions he wanted to ask Lee when this was all done and over with.

Michael was asking about Lee’s powers then and Tarin moved to lean on the counter while they chatted. They’d already established what he could do to the point where he was comfortable. Tarin knew what Lee had told him but he was curious what she’d say to Michael. While he waited, Tarin smiled and thought about the video, Lee really had given the other woman a run for her money.

Michael still seemed sure that Slate had needed another hole in his head after what had happened in Columbia.

That really wouldn’t have worked very well for Romania to have happened as it did. Even though things could have gone so much better than they had. But without Slate, Lee couldn’t imagine that the act would have been repealed so quickly.

And then Michael was asking what she was able to do. ”Everyone, it seems, saw the speed,” Lee started. ”I’m able to siphon energy from people. The more energy I have, the more speed and strength I’m able to use.” That was the bare bones explanation and the simplest way to understand. It worked, right?

Lee and Tarin seemed to miss that Ranger had made a joke. That or they just didn’t appreciate it. Either way, Ranger let the topic drop.

As for Lee’s power,, she could siphon energy and use it to enhance her speed or strength. More energy, more oomph. Ranger nodded before asking, ”Are y’ able t’ control how much y’ use?” Ranger asked then in the interest of giving when asking for something, added, ”I cain’t control mine. It’s like my power has a mind ‘f its own. It gave me speed because it was necessary t’ handle y’r speed.”

As the two women chatted about their powers, Tarin watched Lee and tried to figure out if he had missed something in what Lee had told him about her prior globetrotting advetures or if there were things she hadn’t wanted to tell him.

If it was the latter, Tarin wondered, was it right for him to push her for answers about it. Surely in all the times they’d talked about all the things that had happened to Lee she’d had the opportunity to share if she’d been a part of something more than a humanitarian aid group.

It couldn’t hurt to ask, Tarin decided as Michael explained that her powers weren’t something she could control. That was interesting, did that mean they were simply reactive? If that was the case, did she have to provide all the energy for the extra speed and strength or was she like Lee and could pull it from other sources?

Not having anything to interject still, Tarin just continued to listen, making mental notes about the government trained military contractor that had somehow known Lee for years.

Could Lee control how much energy, how much speed and strength she used? ”Generally speaking, I can,” Lee answered. ”I definitely have a lot more control of my powers now than I used to. It’s not like it’s an exact science, though, so I can’t do a specific speed or strength or anything like that.” Not at all, Lee thought. Though, maybe if she was actually able to use her speed and strength more often...

"But yes, I can still run at a completely normal pace even when I have the energy to be able to go a lot faster."

Then Michael said that she wasn’t able to control her powers, and that she had been moving faster because Lee had been. Lee couldn’t stop the small smile from appearing as she turned to look at Tarin. ”So I was right when I told Kevin that continuing to try and be faster would be a waste of energy.”

Ranger nodded. Lee had control enough of her power, not super fine control but still more than Ranger. Granted on and off was more control than Ranger really had. Hell, what Ranger would trade to be able to at least control what sex they were at any given moment.

”Oh? Gave Kevin a DVD commentary on the video?” Ranger laughed. It said a lot about Lee that she was able to, in the middle of the fight, reach the conclusion and control her output. ”Durin’ the fight there were some slower points where I was worried y’d switch me int’ strength mode. I’m not sure what it takes t’ force a switch, but… It’d’ve been… awkward.”

Ranger suddenly returning to their male form right there in the middle of the fight would have taken some explaining.

Lee explained more about her powers and Tarin just continued listening, smiling when she mentioned running, ”She’s nice enough to not make me look like a chump on a daily basis.”

Lee pointed out that she had been right when she had told Kevin that going faster and faster would have been a waste of energy and Tarin nodded,”You were,” he said and then turned back to Michael.

”When he saw the video, Kevin desperately wanted Lee to start training him to fight. Lee wanted him to understand right off the bat that there’s more to fighting than brute strength and speed.” he explained, hopefully no Lee wouldn’t mind, ”He got there eventually.”

Michael pointed out that she had a strength mode and a speed mode and Tarin tilted his head. Michael had looked pretty strong in her fight with Lee, but then again she had said that she could flip a truck.

”It hasn’t been nearly that frequent in the last month,” Lee reminded Tarin. And it really hadn’t, because most of the time she was now remembering to turn her siphoning off when certain activities would otherwise leave Lee with enough energy to run circles around him.

Or enough energy to be able to make three laps around the park.

”Oh? Gave Kevin a DVD commentary on the video?”

Lee laughed softly and shook her head, but before she could answer, Tarin was explaining about how Kevin had wanted her to train him after seeing the video.

”It only took 6 years for him to believe I could teach him anything,” Lee said, rolling her eyes slightly. But then Lee tilted her head slightly as she looked at Michael. ”You have a different ‘mode’ for strength that you change to?” she asked, unsure how that would even work.

”Well, glad I could help get him interested in fightin’ an’ help with the lesson that skill is most important.” Ranger said and took a mock self celebratory swig of coffee. Then she set the cup on the counter and added, ”I had t’ learn t’ fight long before I could do anythin’ superhuman. Even then, wakin’ up post de-agin’ was like wakin’ up t’ my power havin’ been supercharged. I gained a lot of power in those missin’ years.”

”I’m still where I can teach Emma jus’ about anythin’. Mostly words I’d rather she not say though.” Ranger chuckled, remembering how Emma called Dammit a bitch once and it stuck… because she did it in front of Ranger’s group of former tier 1 operator employees who thought it was the funniest thing.

Lee asked about Ranger’s different modes. ”I’ve always been able t’ be fast ‘r strong, an’ a few other assorted perks. Like shruggin’ off handgun rounds ‘r seein’ inrared an’ ultraviolet. Well, that mystic did somethin’ t’ me. Segregated my powers. I have some in this form an’ some in my strength form. I switch when my power decides it needs powers from the other side. Problem is, it’s like I’m two different people.”

De-aging? Tarin didn’t even really want to know. It’s was just one more in the very long line of crazy things that seemed to have happened on this side of the rift. Lee hadn’t mentioned this one though, so Tarin had to assume that it hadn’t been a turbo f she’d been involved with. Maybe it had been while she had been in Canada with Kevin.

That hadn’t been the point of what Michael was saying though. No, Michael had been agreeing that Lee was smart to teach Kevin the way she had chosen. Tarin agreed.

But then, Michael was explaining that because of what had happened to her with the mutant she’d been hunting with the x-men her powers had been segregated in a way that they were only accessible in different forms.

”Wow,” Tarin said, intrigued. ”You said your powers are reactive, but can you switch forms at will?”

”Oh, he’s been interested in learning to fight for years,” Lee said with a bit of a laugh. ”He just didn’t believe I could. Because apparently ‘mums can’t do that’, I believe were his exact words.”

And again with the commenting about shrugging off bullets. Lee simply tensed slightly this time.

But Michael continued explaining about her powers, Lee shook her head slightly. ”I know I didn’t have a great deal of control over mine for a lot of years, but I can’t even imagine them deciding themselves to change on me.”

”Aaaah, I see now.” Ranger said before chuckling, ”Well, then I’m glad I could help y’ teach him moms can ‘do that’.”

Train asked if Ranger could switch forms at will and Lee commented how she couldn’t imagine a power that decided for itself. First, to Lee, Ranger said, ”It… Is not fun. Especially given the exhaustion I can get from it switchin’ around too much.” Then, to Tarin, Ranger said, ”My powers are reactive, an’ the only way I’ve found t’ switch even close t’ at will is t’ put myself in a situation where it needs t’ switch. So sometimes I’m in one form f’r an afternoon an’ sometimes f’r days. F’r context, my strength form is my old male self. It would be very convenient if I could switch back t’ it at will.”

Tarin listened as Michael described what it was like for her powers to just decide that they were going to change who she was as a person.

Tarin could empathize with that more than a little bit. It wasn’t like it had happened often, but it was so disorienting to know that you couldn’t control the things that were happening to you sometimes…that you couldn’t tell or predict when or how those things would happen. Hell, that you didn’t even know whether or not they could happen.

Lee didn’t get it though and Tarin was glad of that fact.

”That has to be…jarring.” Tarin said, ”Maybe you could eventually…Is it a fight or flight thing that triggers it?” Maybe it was rude to ask so many questions, but Tarin found himself intrigued.