Tarin shook his head, ”No…but I’ve never come across anything like that spirit before either...doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Could the spirit get better? ”If it’s like any other spirit…maybe it can get better, but they do get more and more unstable the older they get, so I’m not sure…” This was feeling more and more above Tarin’s pay grade.

Did he need anything? Lee was sweet to ask, and Tarin shrugged and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, ”Half a bottle of ibuprofen and a week-long nap might be nice.” he said.

Lee was smiling and Tarin couldn’t help but smile too. All things considered everything had turned out okay and when Lee leaned forward to give him a kiss he kissed her back happily.

Things really were easier together.

"I can't guarantee anything about how long you'll sleep, but I can get the ibuprofen for you," Lee said, giving Tarin another quick kiss. "Be right back, hon."

Getting up and making her way to the back of the shop, it didn't take long for Lee to grab the bottle of pills and a couple bottles of water from the fridge. But the entire time she was thinking about what Tarin had said about the spirit.

It had been like the spirit was in two places at once, which made the images unclear no matter how Tarin had tried to get them into focus. But he didn't know where the other 'piece' was. The more that Tarin had tried to force everything together, the more it had hurt. And Tarin had said he didn't think the spirit had been able to do anything.

Though it moved. It had come to the shop. But spirits didn't have real, physical bodies, not anymore. Physics didn't work on them the same way; they could move through walls, so why would friction be an issue? Did they even normally touch the ground, or do they just kinda…float?

Lee was working her bottom lip in thought by the time she made it back to the front of the shop.

"Were there any books around here when you took over the shop?" Lee asked as she set the medicine and water on the table. "I mean those ridiculous new age-y spirituality books."

Sitting down again, Lee sat just staring across the shop for a moment before turning back to Tarin. "You said it couldn't do anything. Was it moving on its own?"

”I can’t sleep at all. I’ve still got three appointments this afternoon and it’s too late to cancel.” Tarin said as Lee kissed him again and disappeared off into the back.

It was still quiet in the shop and Tarin tried to piece together exactly what had happened. Why had it been so hard for him to pull back from that spirit? Tarin knew that when he linked up with a spirit it was a two way mental connection, he saw what they saw, felt what they felt. Was the spirit the way it was because of what was happening to it? Was that why he had struggled so hard to pull away?

Lee returned and set the water down and Tarin reached out and took it gratefully, twisting off the cap and taking a big drink before opening the ibuprofen and taking a few.

Lee asked about the books that had been in the shop several years ago and Tarin shrugged a little bit, ”I might have donated them.” he said. ”There wasn’t any space”

Had the spirit been moving on its own? ”The other one was kind of dragging it along, but it was moving. I think…it was stuck…like I almost got stuck because I could feel how it was stuck.”

Tarin looked up at Lee again and shook his head, ”I know it doesn’t make sense.”

Lee nodded when Tarin said he had donated what books had been left when he took over the shop. Not that there had likely been many; Lee doubted that any of those items had been ordered even a single time since she last did it. Thirteen years earlier. Plus, she had already read all of those books, it was simply a starting place if they had been around.

Tarin then went on to answer her question about whether the spirit had been moving on its own. Which, it had in a way, but had also been kind of dragged along.

"Of course it doesn't make sense," Lee said quietly, still in thought. "We haven't figured it out yet. Even when we do, it still might not make sense."

Lee bit her lip as she continued to think while sitting there, absently reaching out for her bottle of water. "The only actually possible ways I know of someone being in two places at the same time," Lee said after a minute, her words coming out slower than normal as she thought. "Would be a mutant who can copy themselves, which this spirit obviously isn't, and astral projection. Which again, not a mutant. But what if it's something like that that was forced onto it? Though without actually having a physical body to be separated from, it kinda split like you sensed?"

Lee took a deep breath and shook her head, still holding her unopened water. "I know, that doesn't really make sense either, but it's all I've got."

Lee was still trying to puzzle out what was going on with the spirit and Tarin shook his head, wincing a bit at how the movement still hurt.

”I know I said split, but it was more like a metaphysical split…” he said, ”One body, two threads of itself or something kind of like that. It was weird and I tried to grab both at the same time.”

Someone who could make copies of themselves? Someone who could astral project? No, that didn’t sound right.

”I’ve never seen a spirit with powers. Have you?” Tarin said, then sighed. Lee was worried that what she was saying not making sense. They were definitely in the same boat there…

”I’m sorry.” he finally said, ”Maybe we never should have tried this. Now we just have a million more questions.”

Tarin was going to have to hit the library.

As if it wasn't hard enough to describe your own powers, which you knew, to someone else who had never experienced anything of the sort, right now Tarin was trying to explain something to Lee that neither of them actually understood. And so not only was his explanation not clear, but Lee was misunderstanding what Tarin said in a different way.

Definitely not helpful with trying to figure out what was going on.

"Never," Lee told Tarin. "If they could, I'm sure that would have helped during the breakouts." Definitely not help the death count, but it could have helped make a merge not necessary.

"No, I know it was the woman who did something. Those were just the only things along that line I could think of. And I really don't know much of anything about this whole mystical magic thing."

When Tarin apologized, Lee shook her head and reached her hand out for his again. "No need. We both agreed that trying to learn more was the best idea in this situation. Somehow we'll figure out what we need to. It just might not be today."

”They all know to keep their distance now…” Tarin said.

Lee pointed out that she didn’t know much about the mystics or magic and Tarin nodded slowly, ”Me either…” he said with a thoughtful frown. ”I just kept my head down through that whole thing.”

Lee reached for his hand again and Tarin reached back, entwining their fingers as they sat there puzzling over the problem.

They weren’t going to figure it out today. Tarin didn’t know if they’d ever figure it out. But, they’d work on it together.

”Michael said he was bringing in me, the X-Men, and others for intel. Can you believe he looped me into that group?”

Lee nodded. She didn't generally care too much about the welfare of spirits, but she was glad that they knew to stay away from this mystic. It had to be bad enough to be stuck here as a spirit, dead but unable to move, often even when provided help to do so if she understood things properly. But to be stuck as a lobotomized spirit…

"So did I," Lee told Tarin. "Things go bad often enough when just humans and mutants are involved. I didn't want to see, even second hand, what adding magic to the mix would do."

Once their hands were clasped, Lee looked down with a small smile. Which stayed on her face as Tarin spoke again. "Probably Haven," Lee added almost absently before looking up at Tarin. "And actually, in this case, I can. It wouldn't be a far jump for most people to make between an ancient Egyptian mystic coming back to life to ancient ghosts.

"And with everything that the three of us talked about that day," Lee continued, still giving Tarin that same small smile. "Michael's got to have a decent amount of trust there. And not just in me."

”I might do some research…just at the library. No more of this until we know a lot more.” Tarin said. Not that Michael and his partner hadn’t had that thought and seen it through, but maybe there was more generic info that could be helpful. Lee had brought up those books that had been at the shop, surely the public library had books on the occult. They definitely had books on Egypt. ”Might look at that spirit again too, but I’m not gonna link up.”

Lee spoke about the Mystics and Tarin nodded a bit absently. As far as he knew he’d never met a Mystic and his knowledge about them was woefully deficient. The fact that they could survive for multiple thousands of years was…something though.

Lee had a suggestion for who the others were that Michael was planning to bring in and Tarin was going to ask about them before Lee looked up at him and while her train of logic made sense, Tarin still couldn’t figure out why Michale would want to talk to him when surely he had so many other contacts that could have been much more help, even with what Tarin could do.

As for what they’d talked about that day, Tarin didn’t remember contributing much to the conversation at all. Michael clearly trusted Lee, with good reason, but beyond just knowing what Tarin could do…

”He seemed happy with the info that he got.” Tarin said with a small matching smile to Lee’s.

Tarin thought he'd do some research, and the slight relief Lee felt when he specified that it would just be at the library, at least a small part of her had worried about him doing something more active than just reading books.

Lee nodded her understanding. He'd told her about spending hours in the library when he was younger going down rabbit holes. And while she had planned to do some research herself, starting with the books that had one been for sale in the shop, Tarin was probably much more skilled at it from his experience.

"If you want a hand, let me know," Lee still offered. Maybe an extra pair of eyes would catch something Tarin didn't, out maybe she'd make a connection he hadn't.

But he wanted to look at the spirit again? He said he wouldn't look up with it again, but Lee still wasn't sure she liked that idea. "Can I be there if you do?" she asked. Not that she really wanted to be… "Just to be on the safe side."

As Lee explained why she thought Michael had come to Tarin, and why she wasn't nearly as surprised about that fact as Tarin was, he didn't seem to fully believe it. "Well, if Michael was happy with what you said, it must have helped," Lee told Tarin. "At least a bit."

Lee offered to help him research if he wanted and Tarin nodded, ”Might need help combing through what I find since I’m not really sure what I’m looking for.” he said. That’s how it went sometimes. In the past, Tarin would have just sat at the library for hours combing through all the things he found to make sure it was what he wanted so he didn’t have to bring as much home. It might be nice to have company though, or to just bring it all home and comb through together.

Lee wanted to be around if he even wanted to look at the spirit again and he glanced over at her for a moment before he shrugged, ”If you want. You won’t be able to see it though because I’m not gonna link up.”

As for the info Michael got Tarin just laughed a little, ”I didn’t say hardly anything…the spirit did. Still, it was nice to help.”

Leaning back in his chair again, Tarin sighed, ”I’d hoped to text and see if you guys wanted to grab lunch since my afternoon opened up a bit.” he said, ”Did you eat?”

Yeah, until they were able to narrow down at least a little bit what they were looking for, there was going to be a lot to look through and try to figure out if it was important or not. "Of course, I can help with that," Lee told Tarin with a small smile.

"I know I won't be able to see it," Lee told him. 'I wasn't expecting to see it today. I just…I think I would feel better if I was with you when you do it."

Tarin had been hoping to grab lunch with her and Kevin. If Michael hadn't shown up at the shop with all of this. Lee smiled slightly at Tarin. "That would have been much nicer," she said softly. "Kevin has, I made sure he was set before coming over here, but no, I haven't. What were you thinking?"

Lee seemed amenable to helping him research and Tarin just nodded, now that he knew he’d act accordingly.

Lee did want to be there even if he was just going to look at the spirit. Part of Tarin wanted to feel a bit defensive about the whole thing, didn’t she trust him to do what he’d said he’d do? Then again, with as lost as he’d been in the task at hand and how much trouble he’d nearly been in this afternoon…

”Alright.” he said, ”I’ll let you know if I want to try.”

Lee hadn’t eaten. ”I was gonna grab a sandwich from that place on the corner..” he said, ”Might be nice to get out of here for a bit. You can take yours home if you want.”

Tarin agreed that he would let her know if and when he was going to take a look at that spirit again. "Thanks," she said softly. They didn't know what was going on with this spirit, and that was what had Lee so worried about Tarin looking at it again. Since he said that the spirit wasn't doing anything, Tarin should have had no trouble breaking the link earlier. And yet, he had struggled, with the situation getting to the point that Lee was about to force the link to break, one way or another.

She…it just felt like a better idea for her to be there, just in case.

He was going to go grab a sandwich. "That place does have good sandwiches," Lee said with a smile at Tarin. "I'd like that. How long do you have before your next appointment?"

Lee thanked him and Tarin just smiled. If it made Lee feel better to be there, it really cost him nothing to let her. Besides, if Lee had really been worried he couldn’t handle it, Tarin figured she’d have said so. When it came to being safe with things like this, Lee didn’t mince words.

They did definitely have good sandwiches and while Tarin wasn’t particularly hungry owing to the headache, he knew if he didn’t eat something it would just get worse. Plus, he’d been sincere when he said it would be nice to get out of the shop for a little bit.

How long did he have? Tarin checked his watch, Michael hadn’t stayed all that long and while it had taken Lee a bit to get there, what they’d done hadn’t taken too long either.

”They’re supposed to be here at 5:30, then another at 6:00, and the last at 6:30 tonight.” he said, three back-to-back, short appointments, wouldn’t be obnoxious at all. At least it wasn’t the old lady and her husband… ”So a while.”