Man. Lee was cutting it close.

Tonight was the night. Tonight was the night that Kevin’s Uncle was coming to dinner and then taking Kevin home with him on a trip to Texas. Nothing about that was particularly wild on the surface, in fact, it was an excellent thing that Kevin had a good relationship with his Father’s family.

It got weird with the added context that the Tarin pacing the living room of the apartment was a version of Kevin’s father from another Universe…vice versa.

Tarin wasn’t even supposed to be here. In the apartment. Tarin was pretty sure he was supposed to be here in an existential sense…but he was starting to spiral a bit.

Lee hadn’t told Kevin’s Uncle about him…in that existential sense. None of the original Tarin’s family even knew that this Tarin existed, let alone that he was living here in the apartment. They definitely didn’t know that he and Lee were together.

So yeah. Tarin wasn’t even supposed to be here, he and Lee had agreed that…more than once. It was better for her to explain everything in person. Tarin had been planning to be at the shop.

Then…some kind of mechanical thing had broken at the bar. Lee hadn’t been able to avoid going in so she’d asked if Tarin could hang out with Kevin. That wasn’t a problem, him and Kevin actually got along really well. There was a Mets game on the TV that they’d been watching before Kevin had gone to check what he’d packed for the trip for the hundredth time and Tarin had started to pace, looking at the clock.

Lee hadn’t thought the problem at the bar would take so long, Matt had taken forever to get there so she could leave, but a few minutes before Lee had sent the blessed “Leaving now.” Text that meant that soon she would be home.

Tarin had already told Kevin goodbye and had given him a few more exercises to try with his powers while he was on his trip. He and Lee had explained that Tarin had business at the shop, and everything was ready to go.

Except Lee wasn’t home yet.

Right as he had the thought, a knock sounded at the door. Lee would have used her keys, so it couldn’t be her.

Oh god.

For a moment, Tarin froze. Was it possible to wait until Lee made it home from the bar? Would Kevin’s Uncle stay out in the hall long enough?

No. That was ridiculous. Tarin could be an adult. Lee had to be mere minutes away at this point. Tarin could play the roommate until Lee got there and then run like the coward he was.

So, to the door Tarin went. A moment later Tarin Brooks was facing Josh Brooks, whose smile was quickly fading.

It was like going to a family reunion and seeing a distant relative that you just know is related to you but you don’t know how.

“You must be Josh. Come on in.” Tarin said, moving out of the way so the other man could enter. ”I’m Lee’s roommate, she got caught up at the bar but should be home any minute.” Externally, Tarin was holding it together. Internally…not so much.

It was supposed to have been a simple and straightforward day. Kevin was already packed for Texas, Lee had double checked everything with him the previous night, all he had left was to throw his laptop and a couple other things in his backpack when he left with Josh.

Tarin was just going to stay at the shop that day until Josh and Kevin had left later. That way Lee could broach the subjects of Tarin being in their lives, living there, of her seeing him.

Everything was planned. And then the refrigeration unit for the beer kegs broke.

Matt was out of the city and was already due back by early evening, but someone needed to be at the bar while the repairs were being done. And the repairs couldn’t be put off considering it was Friday.

So Lee had asked Tarin if he could come sit with Kevin while she was at the bar. She’d had to deal with these kinds of repairs before, should only take a couple of hours. Lots of time for her to get back home so Tarin could disappear before Josh arrived.

Except that it didn’t go smoothly. The malfunction in the system was worse than Lee had expected, and the mechanic had to dig in further to fix things. And so was taking a lot longer than Lee had expected.

Matt was on his way back as quickly as he could be. Rachel was tied up at her own shop.

And Lee was stuck simply being able to send Tarin text updates on when she thought she’d get home.

FINALLY, Matt showed up and Lee practically ran from the bar as she sent Tarin a message saying that she was leaving. It was going to be tight, but she should get there before Josh.

----

Kevin was very excited. Uncle Josh was going to be there at any time. He’d been surprised Tarin was home as early as he was, but they’d watched some of the game together before Kevin had to go make sure all his stuff was together.

He was just zipping his backpack up when he heard the door open. Turning, Kevin left his room to go see. ”Is Uncle Josh here, Tarin?” he called out as he turned the corner toward the door.

Josh made his way into the apartment and Tarin slowly pushed the door shut, silently hoping that Lee would magically appear from the elevator and he could just slip right out the door before anything had a chance to happen.

Lee didn’t appear though, and it was going to start looking really weird if he kept standing there with the door open, so Tarin slowly pushed the door shut and just kind of awkwardly stood there.

At least until Kevin came around the corner.

Plastering a smile on his face, Tarin gestured at Kevin’s Uncle, ”Yep, looks like he is.” Tarin said, choosing to completely ignore the fact that Kevin had said his name in favor of letting the teen greet his Uncle and still hovering near the door.

Either Josh hadn’t heard Kevin, hadn’t registered what his nephew had said, or was simply content to not make a scene.

”Cool.” Kevin said, approaching to give his Uncle a quick hug, ”Tarin and I were watching the Met’s game. Do you want to watch with us?”

Well. So much for that. Josh didn’t even look back at Tarin, but he did speak.

”Sure Kev. Tarin was just telling me that your Mom should be home any time. I didn’t know you liked baseball.”

Oh God. Where was Lee?

”Tarin and mum were watching it when I got home from Uncle Robert's one day,” Kevin explained as he made his way back to the living room where the game was still on the TV. ”Tarin explained some of it, and it's actually pretty interesting.”

---

Lee was sure that she had made it from the bar to the apartment in record time, but the weekend felt like it was climbing at a snail's pace.

Finally the doors opened and Lee rushed down the hall, pulling her keys out as she went.

The moment that Lee had the door open, not even noticing in her rush that it hadn't been locked, she was speaking. ”I am sooo sorry, Tarin! I got home as-”

Lee's voice cut off suddenly when she saw that there were not two, but three Brooks’ in her apartment.

”Josh. You're early”

Tarin winced when Kevin continued to point out that he liked baseball because Tarin and his mom had been watching it one day after Kevin had hung out with Robert.

On one hand it was gratifying that Kevin was saying that baseball was interesting. On the other hand, the hole was getting deeper and deeper and as Kevin and Josh made their way back into the living room, Tarin desperately tried to figure out what to do.

The door opened then and Tarin was torn between relief and…who knew what else as Lee bustled in, apologizing for taking so long.

It only took Lee a second to realize that Josh had already arrived and while she had the realization, Tarin just stood there and nodded his head grimly.

”Hey Kev, have a great trip. I gotta get back to the shop.” he said, then leaned over to snag his backpack from where it was sitting on the bench by the door before heading out the door that was still open from when Lee had entered the apartment.

Lee shot Tarin an apologetic look and a small smile as he said goodbye to Kevin and very quickly left the apartment. She’d tried to get back here before Josh arrived. Based on what Josh had said about when he expected to get there, Lee should have been home first. Even if it would have been cutting things close.

Locking the door behind him, Lee set her purse down and slowly made her way toward the living room. Kevin, she saw, was watching the ball game, but Josh was looking at her silently. By the look on his face, Lee knew that he had not missed the fact that she’d said the name Tarin as she entered. But he wasn’t saying anything. Simply staring at her.

”Sorry Josh,” Lee said as she came to a stop about five feet from where the man was sitting on the couch. ”There was an emergency at the bar that took much longer than expected. I hope you haven’t been too long.”

As soon as he was out the door and down the stairs, Tarin regretted leaving the apartment so hastily. Since the can of worms had already been opened it would have been better if he’d have stayed, at least for a few minutes…or would it have been?

Pausing for a moment in the lobby of the building Tarin tried to decide if he should go back…then cursed silently to himself and kept walking out the door.

He’d text Lee when he got to the shop.

——

”It’s no problem Lee.” Josh said easily when she apologized for being late.

”Your roommate, Tarin, let me in. Sure seemed like he was in a hurry to get back to the shop though. Didn’t really get a chance to chat. Wild odds meeting two Tarins in New York.”

Josh had known that Lee had a roommate, and if his Mother was to be believed Lee was seeing someone too. Josh wasn’t much for gossip and frankly he’d thought it was none of his business what his Nephew’s mother did with her private life. It was an interesting coincidence though, considering how unique the name was.

”Kevin was just telling me about the Mets. Said you guys watch together a lot.”

Lee shrugged slightly when Josh commented on how fast Tarin had left. ” He's got a very busy day today,” Lee explained. ”We didn't even think he'd be here at all before you and Kevin left tonight, but with me having to run to the bar, I practically begged him to come stay with Kevin while I was gone.”

”Like Tarin would complain about that, mum,” Kevin said, which surprised Lee. She had thought he was engrossed in the game. ”He was sitting here watching baseball most of the time. That’s much better than working.”

”It’s better than working the weekend, Kev,” Lee said to her son before turning her attention back to Josh. ”And honestly, coincidences are not uncommon in this city. Would believe that I sparred with a woman at the gym, but it was only after running into her on a run that we’d worked closely though never met not once but twice in the past?”

Was that a blatant aversion of Josh’s question about Tarin’s name? Yup. But strange coincidences did seem much more common here.

”Kevin was just telling me about the Mets. Said you guys watch together a lot.”

”Well, apparently for baseball they play every day,” Lee replied. ”So it is definitely a lot more often than I watch hockey.

“Are you still good for Chinese food tonight, Josh? I should get that ordered.” Waiting for his answer, Lee turned and made her way into the kitchen to call. And think. Because the Tarin topic had not been brought up the way she’d planned on it.

Tarin knew that it hadn’t been Lee’s fault that something had gone wrong at the bar. He also knew that in the grand scheme of things, what had just happened simply wasn’t that big of a deal. Was it awkward? Yes, life altering? No?

Then why was he so shook up?

When Lee had brought up that Kevin’s Uncle was coming to town, Tarin had immediately known that he didn’t want to be there. The whole idea was just…ugh.

Tarin didn’t want to be introspective about it right now. He didn’t want to care about it, or about how Lee’s conversation with her former brother in law went.

But he did.

Pulling open the door of the shop after unlocking it, Tarin made his way inside and dropped his backpack then reached into his pocket for his phone.

It wasn’t there. It also wasn’t in his other pocket. Not in the back pocket either.

Well shit.

——

”Huh” Josh said when Lee pointed out the higher likelihood of coincidence in a city this size. He’d had the same thought.

They all certainly seemed friendly though and while Josh wasn’t one to gossip he had eyes in his head.

”Not every day, but darn near…” Josh said in regards to baseball.

Lee asked if he was still okay with Chinese and Josh answered his affirmative. There was just something about the Chinese food in New York. It was good.

Lee headed off into the kitchen to sit out the food and Josh looked back to Kevin, ”So baseball huh?”

Kevin nodded, ”Yeah, Tarin even got me a glove. I’ve got it in my bag!”

Josh didn’t really have anything to say about her coincidence comment. At least he didn’t say anything out loud. But Josh was good with Chinese so off Lee went to the kitchen to order. Which, considering Tarin wasn’t going to be eating there tonight, but Josh was made things simple. The woman who took the orders over the phone already remembered the new additions, so all Lee had to do was call and order her ‘usual’.

Then Lee stood there for a minute thinking. She had planned on bringing this, Tarin, up gradually, telling Josh about who he was. And who he wasn’t.

But Josh already knew who her ‘roommate’ was, and had already started asking questions. Though he hadn’t been pressing too hard.

After a couple more minutes, Lee couldn’t really pretend to take longer without it being obvious, Lee made her way back to the living room. ”It shouldn’t be too long,” she informed them as she sat down on the couch. ”Even though it’s Friday night, the delivery times are actually surprisingly quick.

“So what were the two of you talking about while I was gone?”

Great. He’d left his phone at the apartment. Tarin remembered sitting it down on the arm of the couch now before he’d stood up and started pacing.

For a few minutes Tarin just paced around the dark storefront of the shop, trying to decide what to do. He couldn’t really go back…there wasn’t a landline in the shop…he was just going to have to stay until there was no reasonable way that Josh and Kevin were still at the apartment and then head home.

Hopefully Lee wouldn’t think he was mad at her when he didn’t text…maybe they’d find the phone and realize what had happened…even if it was on silent.

Regardless Tarin locked the door of the shop and moved into the back. He could at least finish the game, which had been tied when he’d left.

——
”Well that’s a nice gift. Every boy should have a ball glove.”

Kevin shrugged, ”He says I throw pretty good for not having played before.”

Josh nodded and smiled,”Well, I’m glad you’re bringing your glove. We don’t watch the Mets, but there’s usually a Rangers game on somewhere in the house.” he said as Lee reentered the room and sat on the couch.

The food would be there soon, ”Thank goodness, I’m starving.” he said amiably and then added, ”Kev was telling me about his new ball glove and that he’s got a pretty good arm.”

Lee smiled slightly when Josh mentioned Kevin had been talking about his baseball glove. ”He’s definitely got a much better arm than I do,” Lee replied, then looked past Josh at her son. ”You did pack it, right Kev?”

”Yes mum,” Kevin said with a sigh. ”Uncle Josh just asked me about that. It’s already in my bag.”

”That’s good.” The glove had been in the pile of things that Kevin was putting into his backpack for the flight the previous night, but with having had to run to the bar that afternoon, Lee hadn’t had a chance to check that all of that had been packed yet.

”And did Kevin happen to tell you what else happened the day that we got the baseball gloves?” Lee asked Josh. Trying to make it obvious that it wasn’t just Kevin who’d gotten the baseball glove that day. And that it wasn’t even the most important thing that had happened.

Josh chuckled as Lee asked about the glove and Kevin confirmed that he absolutely had put it into his bag. Kevin was fully a teenager now with all the sass and bravado that came along with the territory. It was wild just how fast that had happened.

Lee went on to ask Kevin if the boy had shared what else had happened and Kevin shook his head.

”Go on, let’s hear it.” Josh said.

Kevin actually smiled here, ”I got my powers!” he announced. ”I can make shields. I would show you, but I still kind of drain all the phone batteries if I’m not careful.” he said, and Josh could see that Kev was still considering it, but then the teen shook his head, ”Anyway…we were playing catch and Tarin made a bad throw, I overcorrected and the ball was going to hit me but I threw up a shield and it bounced right off!” . Here, Kevin paused and frowned for a second, almost bashful, ”My sheild got stuck though since it was the first time. Tarin showed me how to breathe though, like he does with the spirits, and it helped me bring it down! I’m much better now.”

Josh listened as his nephew spoke and had to admit he had the mildest mixed emotions as the story unfolded. They’d all known that Kevin was likely to have powers, and it sounded like things had gone so much better for him than they had for his father. It also meant that Kevin was going to have to deal with life in a world that wasn’t always kind to mutants. It was also sad that Kevin’s had hadn’t been there to see everything happen.

Kevin mentioned spirits though, and Josh frowned, but recovered quickly, ”Thats fantastic Kev!” he said, reaching out and giving the boy a one armed squeeze, ”You’re going to have to tell me all about it. Maybe you can show me later.” Lord, the kids at home weren’t going to give Kevin a moment’s rest when they found out…

”Did you say like Tarin does with the spirits?” Now this was getting to be too much for coincidence.

Lee sat back and smiled happily as she heard Kevin telling his uncle about how his powers had appeared. And about how he would demonstrate except for the fact that he was still draining batteries, not just those in cell phones) every time he put his shield up. It had happened so frequently that Lee had started just automatically plugging her phone in, regardless of what the battery was at, anytime she was in a bedroom.

It really was great, though. Just how smoothly, happily, normally that day had gone. Like how they had gotten the new baseball gloves, Kevin’s mutant powers had just been one more new thing that day. Exciting, surprising, but one was no more out of the ordinary than the other.

But then Kevin explained that the breathing exercise that Tarin had taken him through had helped Kevin get his shield to drop. And that it was the same thing Tarin did with the spirits.

Kevin may not have noticed the frown on Josh’s face, but Lee did. Josh did recover quickly, and congratulated Kevin.

Before questioning Kevin’s offhand comment about Tarin and spirits.

But before Lee was able to say or explain anything, Kevin was. ”Well yeah, Uncle Josh. Tarin sees spirits,” he said as if that fact should have been obvious. ”Well, he can see spirits. Tarin says that he doesn’t really see them anymore unless he wants to because he learned things like the breathing and meditation and some other training when he was younger to learn how to control his powers. They are still always around, though, Tarin told me, even if he’s not seeing them. I guess it’s kind of like for us, too.”

Lee just looked at Kevin for a moment. Apparently he and Tarin had talked more than she knew about since Kevin had gotten his powers for him to know about any of the training Tarin had ‘gotten’ when he was younger.

Josh couldn’t help his eyebrows from rising as Kevin explained about “Tarin’s” powers.

New York might be a real big place, and coincidences there might have been more common than they were in other places, but there was a limit to what Josh was willing to believe.

He had met the man named Tarin who wasliving here in the apartment and obviously that man was not his brother. The name though, the powers, the shop.

”What’s Tarin’s last name?” Josh asked casually.

”Brooks.” Kevin answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Josh nodded when Kevin said it, if he thought hard he could remember Lee mentioning something about there being another Tarin Brooks who was taking over the shop. Josh had been far more concerned with his brother and what had happened to really consider anything about thst.

”Hey Kev, why don’t you go and check your bags one last time. Make sure you brought some jeans if you’re planning to do any riding, and a swim suit.”