This was a meal that had been a long time in the making.

Sure, Tarin and Lee got takeout from the Chinese place down the street from the shop on a pretty much weekly basis, but Lee had always said that the food was even better in person.

They’d even tried to come and eat here before, but…well…they hadn’t made it there in time to do more than order take-out then eat it at home.

It wasn’t a holiday weekend, the weather was good, and there weren’t any illnesses or strange afflictions going around but Tarin had had an odd number of cancellations over the last couple of days culminating in a pretty much open afternoon on Wednesday the 28th.

As such, and before any thickly accented Texans could spoil the plans with a potentially impending catastrophe, Tarin had sent Lee a text to see what her plans were for the afternoon.

It turned out Lee was free and after a bit of back and forth they decided on lunch as an initial plan of action.

Meeting at a restaurant had worked well in the past, so after establishing a time, Tarin had closed up shop and made his way the restaurant to meet Lee for a much belated buffet meal.

So there they were, at the buffet with plates in hand and Tarin couldn’t help grinning at Lee as they waited their turn. The food smelled fantastic, and looked fantastic, but…

”I still think takeout was a perfectly viable option. There’s a perfectly good table at the shop, and perfectly good plates…”

Her and Tarin had been talking about coming to actually eat at the Chinese restaurant for, well, basically since that first week after he had moved in. That was over 4 months ago by this point, and they still hadn't for some reason. Which was very strange since before that, Lee and Kevin had gone for the buffet normally at least once every couple months even with Kevin's complaining about the walk home afterwards.

Lee had been at the bar when Tarin messaged about grabbing lunch. And they had quickly decided on having Chinese, though planned on meeting there so that lunch actually happened. Unlike the last time they had tried to do this.

Since she still had a bit of work to finish up at the bar after, Lee left most of her stuff in the office there, and not much longer after that found Lee standing in front of the buffet with Tarin.

With him sort of complaining that they could just do take out again. "That is true," Lee agreed. There were those things at the shop still. As well as another, more comfortable piece of furniture. "But we've been talking about having the buffet forever. And maybe we can both manage to finish our days early and just head home…"

They really had been talking about having the buffet forever, and he really was hungry, Tarin thought as the people in front of them started dishing up fried rice and noodles onto their plates.

And maybe they could finish their days early and go home? ”That sounds amazing…” he said, ”And the way today is going, I’ll get a text any minute that my last appointment is canceling so it won’t be an issue.”

It was their turn at the sides now, and Tarin decided to be a bit wild and snag both some rice and some noodles along with some excellent looking veggies that were next on the line. ”Have things been weird at the bar?” he asked. ”I’ve been getting some weird vibes…” a thought occurred to him then and Tarin frowned a bit as he shuffled towards the multitude of entrees lined up next. Good lord, Lee hadn’t been kidding. This place pulled out all the stops for their buffet.

”I guess I could ask around.” Tarin said, ”But not here. Later. Before I head home…I dunno.” he said a bit awkwardly. I wasn’t the sort of thing he usually did, but something was up…

It didn’t matter, the end result was going to be an early end to the work day, meeting Lee at home, and not leaving again until work the next day.

Starting to dish up entrees, Tarin smiled again, ”This was a good idea.”

That would be convenient if Tarin's last appointment cancelled while they were eating lunch. Then they could just head straight home. Well, her bag was still at the bar, and Tarin's backpack had to have been left at the shop, but other than grabbing those they could just head home.

They were finally able to get at the food at the buffet now, and Lee started loading up her plate. She always grabbed the same things, knowing what her favourite items were after coming to this restaurant for almost two decades. But the great thing about the buffet, beyond the fact that it was incredible, as Lee was easily able to eat a far wider variety of foods than she ordered with takeout.

Lee looked over at Tarin when he spoke again. "There's never many, if any, other people at the bar when I head there during the day," Lee said with a shrug. "But the walk here did feel a little odd. But I just brushed that off as it's been a long time since I've come to eat here."

Lee just about had her plate filled when she smirked slightly over at Tarin. "Haven't you learned yet that all my ideas are great?"

Suddenly, Lee heard a huge crashing sound coming from the front of the restaurant. "What is going on?" Lee asked, turning to look with a frown.

Lee really did tend to have good ideas, Tarin thought as she smirked over at him. In fact, if he thought about it he had a hard time thinking of a single time she’d had a bad idea.

There was so much to choose from and the plate suddenly looked so small, Tarin decided as he tried to figure out exactly what he wanted to try. They generally just ordered a few favorites when they got takeout, but this was another thing all together.

Lee commented that things had been a bit weird when she’d made her way to the restaurant and Tarin frowned. They’d both felt it then…

Tarin was just trying to find a spot to put something else while also trying to convince himself that everything was fine when there was a crash from the front of the restaurant.

”I dunno…” Tarin said, letting his plate lower to the buffet bar as he looked towards the front of the restaurant.

Another crash sounded along with the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.

”That doesn’t sound good…” he said as people started to yell.

”I think we need to go.” The uneasy feeling that had been building in him all day starting to overflow.

Tarin basically only had time to make a short reply to Lee's question before there was another crash sounding from the front of the restaurant. Accompanied by breaking glass.

That was definitely not a good sign.

An even worse sign was the sound of yelling that followed.

"That might be a good idea," Lee said as she set her plate down as well. "Though I'm starting to think that we're never going to get to actually eat here."

Making her way to the front of the restaurant, Lee saw a garbage can sitting partway through the door, broken glass on the ground. And people running in both directions.

Great, a general panic, not just a single place or thing that people were running from.

Stepping carefully through the glass on the floor (high heels were definitely not made for this) Lee pulled the door open, using her foot to push the garbage can out of the way, Lee glanced out into the street in both directions to see if she could figure out what was going on.

Lee agreed that it might be a good idea to leave and Tarin scanned the restaurant for the nearest exit, eyes settling on the door to the back.

”Yeah, I think we…” he said before he realized that Lee was already walking. Towards the front of the restaurant. Where all the crashing and yelling had come from.

”Not…that way…” Tarin said, following her anyway.

The front of the restaurant was a mess. A trash can was laying halfway in the door and there were people running everywhere.

Lee was stepping through the glass in her heels and then opening the door when Tarin came up next to her…

There was chaos in the street. When had this happened? They’d just gotten to the restaurant a short time before.

Various violence had broken out in the street and all up and down the shops people, mutants, and who knew what else were trashing the storefronts, accosting people, and causing general mayhem.

Tarin couldn’t help but think about the shop, but for now it would be enough to not be…here.

”Shop or home?” Tarin said as the sound of more breaking glass filtered down the street.

Lee heard Tarin behind her saying something about not that way, but she still felt his energy following her toward the front of the restaurant. And really, if not this way, where would they go? Lee had no idea what alleyway this restaurant opened into at the back. What if the alley had a locked gate that was only opened for deliveries and garbage trucks? Or worse, there were people fighting immediately outside the door? At least this way they could see what they were walking into.

And it wasn't good. Not at all. But she could see it.

As Lee stood in the broken, open doorway looking at the street, Tarin came to a stop behind her asking where they should go. "Shop," Lee replied, glancing back at Tarin as she reached out for his hand. "It'd be easier to change plans from there if we need to."

That said, Lee took one more glance out into the street before pulling Tarin out with her.

Hurrying down the sidewalk, Lee was really only paying attention to two of her senses: her sight as her head swivelled in all directions and her siphoning as she focused to try and keep track of everyone within about 20 feet of herself as they moved. There was no possible way that she could track everyone she was able to feel. There were far too many people, moving too fast, as she also moved.

She may be good, but she wasn't that good.

Part of the problem was that there were people inside the buildings, as well. Who she could feel, but not see.

Suddenly, as she was looking behind them, Lee felt one of those people inside the building suddenly move to straight in front of her. Coming to an abrupt halt as her eyes were shooting forward to where the person was, Lee used her hand still holding Tarin's to pull him to a stop as well.

Only then, after both her and Tarin had stopped, did Lee actually see the man in front of them. He was large, at least as tall as Tarin, possibly taller, broad shouldered and muscled. Holding a crowbar.

Well shit.

Lee chose the shop and Tarin nodded even though he knew she couldn’t see him do it. Ego was absolutely not a thing here and he was relieved when Lee grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the street.

Things were somehow worse out here, without the illusion of walls around them for protection. Lee’s head was on a swivel and Tarin tried to do the same, but she was definitely the one with more experience in situations like this so Tarin settled for doing his best to watch her back.

What were they thinking moving down the street like this though, in all of this chaos? Lee was in a skirt and heels and there were people everywhere in the street. Tarin knew for a fact that Lee was more than capable of getting them out of any situation they found themselves in but how was this even happening? Again, Tarin tried to figure out how all of this had happened in the short time since he had left the shop. Thank God it hadn’t happened while they’d both been walking.

All of a sudden someone was in front of them and Lee stopped suddenly, pulling Tarin to a stop with her. The man was of a height with Tarin, but he felt much larger as he stood there with a crowbar in his hand.

”Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a really terrible idea…” Tarin said, thinking it was only fair to give the guy a chance before Lee absolutely ruined his night of wanton destruction.

Of course the man just leered at Lee and then moved, trying to shove her aside and swing that crowbar right at Tarin’s head. As Tarin released Lee’s hand and stepped quickly to the side to hopefully dodge the swing he only had one thought.

Big mistake.

As the three of them stood there facing each other for a second, unmoving, Lee's mind was racing. The crowbar was a huge problem, considering she didn't have the energy for this yet. And because that crowbar was going to be swung at Tarin - because how could she possibly be a threat? - he was far too close to the man.

Then Tarin was speaking, and Lee couldn't help the small smile at the idea that he was giving this man a warning. All things considered, that was actually extremely nice of Tarin.

Though, as Lee would have guessed, the man did not take Tarin's warning. The man actually leered at her as he was raising the crowbar to be able to swing it. Lee had been ready and waiting, though, and the moment the man started to move, Lee's hand was moving, lifting slightly itself, to push Tarin away.

And everything started happening at once. Tarin's hand was no longer holding hers, but the man's hand was on her shoulder instead, pushing her away from Tarin. But as she brought her hands up to grab the man's arm closest to her and she started siphoning much more, she felt Tarin moving away from her faster than the man was pushing her.

The man had not been expecting Lee to grab him. He had probably been expecting her to fall to the sidewalk and either cry or scream, but because of her hold on his arm Lee was able to remain on her feet, if off balance.

He had also probably been expecting the crowbar to hit Tarin, so it continuing its arc around and down combined with Lee's weight on his other arm threw him off balance as well.

Having regained her own balance by now, Lee released the arm she had been holding. Stepping closer to the man, Lee's left hand reached out for the wrist of the crowbar arm. And squeezed.

"You know," Lee said, glancing over to Tarin as she continued siphoning. "I've never had a single person listen to a warning like that before."

That said, Lee turned her attention back to the man, her free hand reaching for the crowbar to pull it out of his hand.

Things moved very quickly at that point and as Tarin twisted to the side to try and dodge the crowbar whizzing at his head, he felt a hand reach out and shove him even further to the side.

He might have been able to keep his feet without the shove, but with it he stumbled a couple of steps before landing on his rear end in the middle of the street.

Lee, of course, handled the man with more ease than most people would have thought possible and as the man rolled through his swing and ended up on the ground with Lee most assuredly pulling a ton of energy from him, Tarin had to grin at her despite the situation.

God she was incredible.

Pushing to his feet as she spoke, Tarin shrugged, head on a swivel to make sure they were safe as the chaos still roared around them, ”I figured it was only fair. He looked like he was having such a good time…”

The man was not having a good time now as his struggles against Lee’s hold got weaker and weaker and she grabbed the crowbar from his hand.

Across the street, a couple of guys climbed through a window, arms full of merchandise from what had been a storefront a few moments before, running down the street. But there were others nearby too who didn’t have anything in their arms besides weapons.

”Time to move…” Tarin said.

The man was not putting up nearly as much of a fight as Lee would have expected now that someone was fighting back. In fact, with her hand on his wrist, with the follow through from his crowbar swing, he actually ended up on the ground . Pulling the metal out of the man's hand, she passed it back toward Tarin. She didn't care whether he kept it or not, but it wasn't as though she needed it and she was a little busy to see which direction to toss it.

"Time to move…”

Lee nodded to tell Tarin she heard him. The man who'd attacked them wasn't unconscious yet. But without knowing what was going on, how many people there might be between here and the shop intent on hurting people, she didn't necessarily have the time.

At least he had far less energy than he had before.

And he was already on the ground. Straightening up, Lee kicked the man in the stomach. "Ok, let's go," Lee said as she turned her siphoning right back down to where it normally was as she grabbed Tarin's hand again.

Continuing on the exact same way she had been before that man had appeared in front of them, looking around and focusing on her siphoning, at least Lee was feeling slightly less anxious about the entire situation. She had energy now to be able to deal with things. She didn't have to hope that, like the last man, she'd be able to siphon enough for her to be able to do anything effective.

Hopefully they could get to the shop without anything else happening.

Lee offered him the crowbar and Tarin took it, wondering if this was real life or if they had slipped into some sort of shared nightmare where all of this was happening. Still, it somehow felt better to have the crowbar in his hand and while Tarin knew he wasn’t going to be incredibly adept at using it, it was better than stumbling around unarmed.

Adrenaline had Tarin’s heart rate up and his watch was helpfully asking him if he was working out as Lee stood up and kicked the man who, had stupidly ignored their warning, in the stomach.

”I told you that was a bad idea.” Tarin said in parting as he and Lee started making their way down the street again.

As they moved, and Tarin scanned the street for more people who wanted a fight, he considered the fact that the same thing that had happened to these businesses had happened to the shop and a little sinking feeling settled into his stomach. If things had gone south there, the could always fix up the building. It wasn’t that big of a deal. The most important thing was getting somewhere safe.

Almost simultaneously as he said it, something caught Tarin’s attention out of the corner of his eye and he managed to turn and duck right as an entire motorcycle flew just over where he’d been standing. He’d been looking at the sides and in front, but for a few brief moments as he was distracted by thoughts of the shop, Tarin had stopped paying attention to things from the direction where they came.

”Holy shit” he stammered, stumbling slightly as the motorcycle loudly screeched down the street and Tarin turned to see a man with glowing hands, flanked on both sides by others with glowing hands picking up and throwing anything they could see.

The commotion drew attention and soon enough figures were climbing from storefront windows almost as if an official challenge had been issued.

Tarin and Lee weren’t quite right in the middle of the whole thing, but they were definitely between the two groups that were now eying each other in the street.

”Now what….” Tarin said, his grip on the crowbar tightening slightly.

There were still lots of people on the streets, people running away, people moving in and out of shops, people with weapons. Thankfully none of that last group seemed to be paying any attention to her and Tarin at the moment and they were making good progress down the street.

And while Lee was looking around and paying attention to her siphoning, she was taken completely by surprise as Tarin ducked and a freaking motorcycle flew past them.

Turning in the direction it had come from, Lee saw three men with glowing hands. Well beyond where her siphoning was able to detect. No wonder she hadn't realized. Lee was not expecting there to be mutants involved, throwing vehicles.

As she was looking, Lee saw other people, climbing out of shop windows, moving forward. Looking like there were two groups forming on the street, facing each other.

Lee could deal with this many people if they were human. Lee could also deal with a mutant or two on her own without too much worry. But there were at least three mutants in those groups, there had to be at least a couple in the opposing group after a motorcycle had been thrown, and Tarin was there, and she didn't have that much energy.

"We try to get out of here without being noticed," Lee told Tarin, her voice low as she started making her way down the street again, most of her visual attention on the two groups though she was still looking around.

”We try to get out of here without being noticed.” Lee said, and Tarin looked down at the highly inconspicuous crowbar in his hand.

Not wanting to let go of it because he’d have simply been unarmed again, Tarin took a deep breath and kept pace with Lee, reaching out for her hand again as they made their way towards the less conspicuous looking group of people who were gathering in the street.

Hopefully since they were off to the side and moving quickly, they’d be able to skirt by the second group and be on their way. All of this gathering had had the side effect of clearing the rest of the street for a ways around and they really weren’t far from the shop.

They were approaching that second group now, and they were going to have to go around them to get past. They were drawing attention just by being there though and Tarin could have sworn he could feel eyes on him and Lee as they just tried to get by them.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Tarin didn’t know where the voice was coming from, because he didn’t acknowledge it but he started to walk a little faster. He knew that Lee could really move when she had energy, but did she have enough to make it all the way back to the shop?

More loud crashes and booms were sounding behind them and Tarin couldn’t help but look because he was scared another large projectile was heading their way. There were several people here though and there was no telling if or what kind of powers they might have.

He didn’t know what to do.