Lee was cleverly and not so subtly trying to steer the conversation away from him and Tarin sent a grateful look in her direction.

That meant that Kevin had the floor again though, and Tarin wondered if maybe Lee should have been more specific when she’d told her son to fill his grandparents in on what had happened since his last visit.

”Did Mum show you the video?” he asked, and Tarin had to think that he’d been right and Lee should have been more specific in what she wanted her son to share, ”She’s so good at fighting and all my friends thought it was really cool. I’m learning now too.”

He paused for a second and thought, ”I’m also going to a new school soon!” Kevin said smiling more broadly than Tarin thought he’d ever seen him smile, ”Because I got my powers. Tarin says I’ve gotten really good at bringing my shield up and down whenever I want. I’d show you, but I don’t want to drain anyone’s cell phone batteries.”

Tarin couldn’t help but grin as Kevin spoke, so excited to share about his powers. He had gotten really good over the summer, very quickly.

As she prompted Kevin to tell his grandparents what had been going on, because Lee was sure her son would not have called them while he was in Texas, Lee saw the grateful look on Tarin's face and gave him a small smile. It was often safer and easier for Kevin to lead the conversation with her parents like this, chiming in only as needed because it still appeared like she was involved in the conversation but she didn't have to actually say much to her parents.

Except maybe it wasn't so safe now that Kevin seemed to be noticing and learning a whole lot more suddenly.

The video had definitely not been what Lee had been talking about when she had prompted Kevin to fill her parents in, and Lee's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he brought it up. "No Kev, I haven't shown them," Lee said a little awkwardly before taking a fairly large drink of the beer that was still in her hand.

Before anyone was able to say anything else, Kevin was plunging ahead. At least he had gotten around to his powers. And, though Lee had always known that Kevin would be excited to get his powers, seeing the smile on her son's face as he told his grandparents about it…Lee was so happy that Kevin's experience was so vastly different from hers.

But, Lee noticed, her mother was staring at her while Kevin was speaking. Once he had stopped speaking, or possibly just stopping for a breath, Lee's mother started speaking.

"You're fighting in front of Kevin and his friends? And teaching him how to fight?" Her voice sounded rather incredulous.

"No mum. I was sparring at the gym while Kevin was at school," Lee explained. "I didn't even know it was being taped until Kevin showed us the video. And he's been learning to fight for almost 7 years now. Only, he's just realized that I'm actually able to teach him things."

Well. The attention was definitely not focused on Tarin anymore. It would have been a good thing if Tarin hadn’t noticed the way that Lee’s Mom was watching Lee the whole time Kevin was talking about his newly discovered powers.

Kevin finished talking, still beaming and then Lee’s Mother spoke and the smile slowly faded from his face. He’d made his big announcement and was wildly excited about his powers and nobody was paying any attention.

Lee explained what had actually happened rather than what Kevin had described and Tarin could only hope that the explanation would be the end of it.

”Yeah, I only get to practice on the bags.” Kevin said, ”No sparring until I learn to use this.” he added, tapping the side of his head. There was the intuitiveness. Something occurred to Kevin though and he looked over at Tarin.

”You said something about that with my powers too. About how it’s important to think about them…why does everything have to involve so much thinking?”

Tarin shrugged, ”Like I said, you don’t want to accidentally hurt someone or yourself. Same reason your Mom said it for the fighting. I’ll bet you waffles at that place you like so much your teachers tell you the same thing your first week of school.”

Lee smiled as Kevin said he wasn't allowed to spar until he learned to use his head. She'd never come out and said it in those words with him, so she was happy that he not only figured it out, but was able to tell his grandparents that fact when Lee's mother still didn't look all that happy about the fact that Kevin was learning how to fight.

Then Kevin was complaining about everything requiring so much thinking, and Lee was about to speak, but Tarin beat her to it. And it sounded like this was going back to the talk that the two of them had had the night Kevin got home from Texas.

"Well how much is there for you to think about, Kev?" Lee's father asked, looking over at the boy. "You said your power was what, a shield? Wouldn't you just need to practice like any other skill?"

Lee’s Mom still didn’t look all that happy about the idea that Kevin was learning how to fight and while Tarin thought that was too bad, it really wasn’t any of her business in the grand scheme of things.

Kevin had well and truly moved on from talking about that though and when his Grandfather asked him why he didn’t just practice his shield like any other skill Tarin could see that Kevin was really thinking about what he wanted to say.

”I think that’s part of it.” Kevin said, ”And I’m already good at making it appear and disappear…unless I’m frustrated or mad.” The boy paused again for a second, ”Tarin says you have to learn about yourself and your feelings and where your power is coming from so that you can separate them and really understand how it all works together.” when he finished he looked over at Tarin and Tarin nodded. That was pretty much it.

Sure he’d said a lot more than night after Kevin had gotten home from Texas, but it was all very abstract and Kevin seemed to have gleaned the important parts.

”And that takes time.” Tarin said and Kevin nodded, ”And work.” he said, then looked over at Lee, ”And I want to get really good at my powers like my Mum.”

Well. That was unexpected Tarin thought as he glanced over at Lee. Kevin rarely ever let himself get sentimental with Lee but Tarin knew that the night of their big talk that Kevin had realized some things he hadn’t realized before.

Lee had wanted the conversation to be focused around Kevin, but she had never expected things to get this…deep. Though it was very reassuring that Kevin had continued to think about the things that she had said about learning to fight, about hers and Tarin's advice about his powers.

Kevin wasn't even looking at her, he was looking at his grandfather as he spoke. Then looking over at Tarin for confirmation that what he had said had been correct. But the entire time that he was speaking, Lee had a proud smile on her face as she watched her son.

But then Kevin turned to her. "And I want to get really good at my powers like my Mum.”

Lee's smile faltered slightly in surprise as she just looked at her son. Though it had been impossible for her to even attempt to hide what mornings were like for her, Lee had always made sure to not let Kevin know how difficult it sometimes was for her to manage her energy

Apparently the talk with Tarin had been a little more in depth than Lee had thought. "Really?" She asked her son, the smile growing on her face again.

"What is there for your mother to get good at?" Lee's father asked Kevin before turning to look at Lee. "You just take energy from people, don't you?"

"Dave!" Lee's mother admonished in a whisper.

The words were barely out of Lee’s Dad’s mouth when Tarin started talking.

”It’s so much more complicated than that…” Tarin said, not angrily but emphatically.”

”Yeah, she has to think about her energy levels all the time..” Kevin added and Tarin nodded.

”Because if she doesn’t she either can’t sleep or can’t get up..it’s a constant balancing act.” Tarin said. ”That Lee is really good at.”

Kevin nodded, ”Really good”

Realizing what he’d just done, Tarin closed his mouth almost audibly and looked over at Lee, then her parents. ”And she is more than capable of speaking for herself.”

Lee's eyes moved to her father as she heard what he said, the smile falling off her face. And almost before he had even finished speaking, Tarin was talking. Telling her father, both of her parents, that her mutation was so much more than simply 'taking energy'.

Honestly, it wasn't too surprising that Tarin had jumped in. While he wouldn't go out of his way to tell people how incredible he thought that she was, he always seemed very adamant on correcting people if they thought otherwise.

But then Kevin chimed in again, saying that she always had to watch her energy levels, and Lee's eyes shot back over to Kevin. And as the two went back and forth, the smile came back to her face as she watched Kevin.

"I definitely can," Lee agreed as she glanced at Tarin. "But thank you, both of you."

Lee then turned her eyes back to her parents. Both her parents, because while her mother had tried to shush her father, it had probably had more to do with not making a scene than her not thinking the same thing.

"It's also a lot more than simply 'taking energy'," told them. "Our neighbour on this side," Lee gestured to the wall behind the TV. "Only one of them is home. The other doesn't generally get home until around 9 during the week. And assuming the floorplans are the same, our downstairs neighbour is in the living room. Probably two of them unless they're having a party two floors down. And our upstairs neighbour is in the kitchen."

Lee spoke, describing all of the people she could feel around them with her powers and Tarin listened to her with a small smile on his face.

He loved it when Lee talked about her powers and when she demonstrated the different things that she could do

”We were in a building collapse when we were doing a volunteer event.” Tarin said, ”Lee did that to find a bunch of people who had been trapped.” Tarin said, ”The first responders were able to get to them faster because she was there.” he added.

”Uncle Robert told me…” Kevin said, ”Didn’t she save you?”

Tarin nodded, ”Yep, she did.”

It was just one of many things, but it was another specific example of just how good Lee really was.

Lee didn't look away from her parents, who were both looking shocked and surprised as she listed off the people she was able to sense in the surrounding apartments. The thing was, that was just who she was able to say was around with just a very quick 'glance' at the energy she was feeling. If Lee were to actually think about it, actually focus on what she was feeling, Lee knew she could be far more specific.

Because she'd done it before. Nights could sometimes be very long.

But then Tarin went on to talk about how she had found people during the building collapse. Which was a surprise because Tarin didn't really like talking about taht. Lee was turning to look at him, but then Kevin spoke and once again her eyes shot to her son in surprise. That was happening a lot that night.

"Uncle Robert told you about that?" Lee asked, wondering what else Robert might have told Kevin. Though it was becoming more and more clear that Kevin was very unlikely to believe any of the negative things about Tarin he might say.

"He told us, too. But he didn't say that you were in the building collapse."

"That's because Robert and I weren't trapped in it, thanks to Tarin," Lee said as she turned back to her parents. "He used his powers to get us out as the building was collapsing on him."

"You did that?" Lee's father asked as he turned to look at Tarin again. "That's something else Robert didn't mention."

Great Tarin thought as Kevin explained that Robert had told him about the building collapse. Of course that’s what had happened.

Robert had also apparently told his and Lee’s parents what had happened, but left out a few key details.

Details that Lee was more than willing to provide and Tarin found himself shifting a little uncomfortably as she explained what had happened that day. How Tarin had used his powers to get Robert and Lee out of the building before it came down.

Tarin still didn’t like to think about it very much, but he had been the one to bring it up, so when Lee’s Father asked for confirmation regarding what had happened, Tarin nodded.

”I had to choose.” he explained, ”But the building really just fell around me…” he added with. I’ll shudder. ”And like I said, I wasn’t in there long “

Ah, there it was. Tarin was alright talking about the collapse when he was talking about what she had done, but it wasn't so alright when they were talking about what he did. Or rather, him being in the collapse. That was fine. She had made her point about what Tarin had done that day to counter anything that Robert may or may not have said to their parents.

"Got Tarin out in about 30 minutes," Lee said before muttering under her breath. "Could have been faster if I could get back in sooner.'

Then Lee glanced over at Tarin. "I think the news said they had everyone out within about an hour?" asked him for confirmation.

"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad. Robert made it sound like it was horrible."

"Oh no, pretty much the entire house came down, mum," Lee replied. "Just some walls were left standing. I pointed out exactly where everyone was so they just had to be dug out, not searched for."

Thirty minutes. If he thought about it, Tarin could still almost feel what it had been like in the rubble. Tarin wasn’t going to do that though, because it also had a tendency to make him feel like he couldn’t breathe. Instead, Tarin nodded to Lee’s question with a small smile. She’d gotten there so damn fast.

Had they gotten everyone out in an hour? Tarin had avoided the news about the whole event after the fact, owing to how everything had played out. ”I think that’s about right.” he still said, if Lee thought it had been an hour…it had been an hour.

Lee’s Mom spoke again and Tarin had to think that now he knew where Robert got it from…that ability to say such casually demeaning things without even meaning to do it.

Lee didn’t break stride though and Tarin didn’t know if he’d ever seen her this confident as she laid out exactly what it was she had done that day. Tarin was reaching for his phone to pull up pictures, a bit nervous at seeing them, but Kevin beat him to it.

”Yeah, see, here’s a before and after…” the boy said, holding his phone out to his Grandmother for a moment before turning towards Tarin and Lee for confirmation of the accuracy.

God, it had been bad. In his avoidance of the whole thing, Tarin hadn’t ever really seen what had happened. He’d really been very lucky. He also knew that he’d made the right choice getting Lee out of there.

”It was amazing.” Tarin said sincerely, looking back at Lee now.

Kevin was just as ready with pictures of the building collapse as he had been with the video of her sparring match before he'd gone to Texas. Not only had Kevin known about the building collapse that she and Tarin had been in, but he'd seen pictures of the building collapse?

"Why didn't you tell me you knew about that?" Lee asked Kevin, her voice a little softer than it had just been talking to her parents.

But then Lee heard Tarin speaking again, saying again how amazing she'd been that day. Looking over and seeing the look, the smile on his face, Lee smiled back, the slightest hint of a blush on her face.

"So there's going to be articles for me to read about the things my daughter did that day?"

Lee turned back to her father, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. "Uh, no? Hopefully not?" Lee said somewhat awkwardly. "I mean, we didn't exactly stick around to talk to reporters."

When Lee asked Kevin why he hadn’t told her that he knew about the building collapse, Kevin shrugged, ”I figured if it was a big deal you’d tell me.” Realistically Kevin had figured this was just another one of those things his Mum wasn’t going to tell him about because she didn’t think he was old enough. He paused for a moment though, a slightly sheepish look spreading across his features.

Uncle Robert mentioned it and told me a little, but once he realized I didn’t know about it he wouldn’t tell me anymore so I looked it up.”

Tarin shook his head at that, unsurprised that Robert had neglected to tell Lee about that conversation. Then again he didn’t have much room to talk because he’d neglected to fill Lee in on all the details of his own talk with Kevin.

Lee’s Father spoke again and Tarin shook his head even as Lee started to speak. He absolutely had not been in any kind of condition to even talk to the EMS on scene, let alone reporters. It was just another example of how different things were when you were a mutant.

”We were fine and didn’t want to be in the way. Tarin said to corroborate Lee’s words, ”So we went ahead and took off.”