Lee let out a huge sigh of relief when she heard her son on the other end of the phone. They were just watching a movie because they weren't allowed to go outside. If they weren't allowed outside, that meant it was either just a precaution and things hadn't made it that far north, or the X-Men and teachers were managing to keep the problems away from the mansion.

Either way, the relief was almost overwhelming.

"I'm not mad, Kev," Lee replied, looking over at Tarin in relief. Lee wasn't sure how much of the situation in the city Kevin currently knew about, but between the news and the other students, Lee knew it wouldn't be hard for him to find out.

"There's just a lot going on right now and I was worried when you didn't answer. Everything's ok up there? You remember my phone number, right? In case you drain your battery?"

This was good. This was very good. They didn't need to be crossing New York City on foot because Kevin was safe. They could get off the street again, somewhere safe. But Kevin was safe, that was the most important thing.

Lee’s body language absolutely screamed relief as she sighed, and Tarin nodded and let out a relieved sigh of his own as he stood there in the middle of the street and watched around them for anything that could be perceived as a threat.

Lee pointed out that there was a lot going on and Tarin figured that could be considered an understatement. There wasn’t really any reason to worry Kevin excessively though, and now that they knew he was safe they could get back inside where it was safe.

As strange as it was, Tarin didn’t know exactly where they were, he’d been operating off of information from the spirits and everything had been relayed in relative distances rather than street names. Would it be better to head for the shop, or for home? While Lee talked, Tarin worked to get his bearings and figure out where they should go next.

——-

”Everyone’s saying that people are tearing up the city.” Kevin said when Lee commented that there was a lot going on. ”The teachers told us all to just hang out in the common areas and watch a movie, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Lee asked if Kevin remembered her phone number and Kevin nodded before realizing she wouldn’t be able to see that over the line, ”Yeah Mum, I know your number. Are you okay?” he asked, ”Nothing is happening here, but I’ll make sure I answer next time.”

As Lee spoke with Kevin, she looked over at Tarin. He seemed to looking around, keeping an eye out in addition to the spirits.

And Kevin had heard, at least some, of what was going on. So Lee focused more on her son than on the street, trusting Tarin to let her know if anything was about to happen.

"I'm good, Kevin. So is Tarin," Lee answered her son. "We were just worried when you didn't answer, because we weren't sure how this was spread across the city. But you don't need to worry about us, we'll be fine. Listen and do what the teachers say, and if you go drain your battery, let me know as soon as you can on another phone, ok Kev?"

Lee took a breath and looked at Tarin again. They'd been lucky so far, with the spirits managing to keep everyone away, but there was no reason to tempt fate more than necessary.

"I've got to go Kevin. But I love you, and I'll call tonight, ok?"

While Lee spoke to Kevin, Tarin got his bearings and realized that they were about equidistant from the shop and the apartment. The only difference was that they’d have to cut across the park to get to the apartment whereas they could stay on the street if they went back to the shop.

Based on Lee’s lack of practical footwear the park would present some issues, but Tarin figured he would leave it up to her which way they ended up taking.

Lee confirmed that both she and Tarin were okay made sure Kevin knew to listen to the teachers, and told him to call her from someone else’s phone if his got zapped.

She really thought of everything.

”Okay, I will, I love you too, and talk to you later.” Kevin said, and Lee hung up the phone.

”Thank goodness.” Tarin said with a relieved smile, then looked down the street and frowned as the trouble kind of noise filtered towards them. Time to move again.

”We’re about halfway between the shop and the apartment, would have to cross the park to get home. Could be better or worse. What do you think?”

As she hung up the phone and tucked it into her pocket again, Lee let out another relieved sigh.a sentiment that Tarin echoed a moment later.

The fact that Kevin was safe meant that they needed to get back to someplace safe as well. Thankfully, it seemed that Tarin had been figuring out where they were in addition to watching for danger.

The shop, with the panic room door and the heavy metal back door could be potentially the safer option. However, considering the fact they had no idea how long this could last or if they would need to leave the shop again in the middle of this, the lack of food and clothing options made it problematic.

Glancing around as she thought, Lee noticed where they were. "Home," Lee decided. "If we can get onto either 65th or 66th, we can follow that straight through the park. And if there are issues, there's lots of paths that branch off."

Tarin continued to watch their surroundings as Lee thought for a moment. The intense sense of urgency from a few moments earlier had dissipated a bit and now their only priority was to get someplace that they’d be safe.

The apartment was the better choice for a number of options and Tarin decided that when all of this was over he was going to pack a bag and have Lee pack a bag and keep it at the shop just in case they ever got stuck there again.

Lee was looking around again and Tarin was getting feedback from the spirits that they really probably did need to move.

Right about the time Tarin was going to say something Lee spoke, pointing out that if they got to 65th or 66th there was a road that cut across the park.

Perfect.

”Let’s go then, things are starting to get a bit hairy about a block over. “ he said, and started walking towards the streets Lee had named.

Getting the street that crossed the park was relatively uneventful, at least for the way tonight had been going and as he and Lee turned, Tarin hoped that their luck would hold out long enough for them to get home.

Apparently things were starting to get worse again nearby. Tarin didn't have to tell Lee twice. She nodded and started heading toward the park.

Lee wasn't particularly familiar with the streets on this side of the park, but it was a rather simple system to understand, and she did know the park.

It was even better as Lee knew that 65th and 66th merged as they traversed the park, so even if one street was too dangerous, they still had the other.

Yet, thanks to the spirits, they really didn't have any issues getting to the edge of the park.

This was where things could end up being much easier, or much worse. It could be easier as in a lot of ways, there were a lot less ways to cause chaos in the park as there would be in the main streets. But at the same time, being in Central Park left you much more exposed and people were able to see you from a much greater distance in all directions.

Lee's head was constantly moving, eyes focusing beyond the range of the spirits watching for danger as she focused on her siphoning closer to her.

Which turned out to be a rather disorienting sensation, and Lee stopped walking for a moment as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

Tarin knew he’d seen this road before. It was impossible with as much time as he and Lee spent in the park that he’d never seen the road before, but it just didn’t feel familiar.

The spirits weren’t sending back any kind of information that suggested things were dangerous ahead, but they’d come in quickly a few times before tonight. Tarin wasn’t taking any chances, the park was definitely a shortcut, but it was very exposed and Tarin felt like they were setting themselves up as a target.

Lee was clearly on alert too, and as they started down the street and across the park Tarin refocused his attention on the feedback he was getting from the spirits. There were people in the park, but they weren’t terribly close, at least not right now.

Suddenly, Lee stopped in front of him and Tarin frowned, jogging a couple of steps to bring him up beside her.

”Are you alright?” he said. There was no way that Lee was tired, not with the amount of energy she’d siphoned from the man earlier and the way the spirits had kept the way clear. ” We’re alm….” Tarin started to say, but was cut off as a figure dropped down from the sky .

There were spirits nearby and they remembered their instructions from all the way back at the shop when Tarin had told them to protect Lee, so when what Tarin could only describe as a wave of energy came surging towards the two of them, the spirits took the brunt of what headed her way.

Tarin wasn’t quite so lucky and the wave pushed him back off of his feet with enough force that when he landed flat on his back the air rushed out of him with a whoosh.

It was just the air getting knocked out of him, and Tarin knew exactly what was happening and what he needed to do to fix it, but trying to concentrate on pulling air into his lungs and keep his connection to the spirits was too much and they started to wink out of existence one by one.

Leaving Lee in the street on her own.

When Lee first stopped moving, she focused her eyes on the ground right in front of her, but that didn't help, so she closed her eyes as she felt Tarin moving up from behind her. Lee didn't try nodding her head for fear that would just make the dizziness worse. "I'm fine, just-" Lee started. Then she suddenly felt someone moving into her siphoning range quickly in front of them.

And above.

"Wat-" Lee started, trying to warn Tarin as her eyes moved to where she felt the energy coming from. But Lee was cut off as there were suddenly a bunch of spirits right in front of her.

A moment later, the spirits were being pushed back into her, causing Lee to stagger back a couple steps. Though she managed to keep her footing.

But a moment later, the spirits started disappearing.

Eyes wide, before she even started looking for the mutant who had done this, Lee turned to look for Tarin. Who she saw was laying on the ground gasping for air but otherwise looked ok.

Good.

Lee then turned to where she felt the other mutant. He was on the ground now and grinning, probably aiming that the 'threat' had been taken care of since the spirits had protected her and disappeared when Tarin had the wind knocked out of him.

How wrong he was.

Lee didn't waste anymore time. Who knew how many times he could produce that energy wave in a row?

Lee ran forward, faster than the fastest Olympic sprinter. And as she reached him, Lee punched him in the gut.

It had been a long time since Tarin had gotten the wind knocked out of him. He’d been telling the truth the day that it had happened to Lee in the gym with Tony though. Tarin knew exactly what to do. Putting it into practice was way more difficult than he had remembered though.

What the hell had happened. Through the painful haze of his chest trying to cave in on itself, Tarin could see Lee looking back at him. He wanted to tell her that he was fine, to do whatever she needed to do because he just needed a minute, but he couldn’t get the breath to make words.

Then. Lee. Moved.

Lee moved so fast that Tarin almost didn’t see it because he had blinked. He was still gasping for air though, and even if his chest was starting to ease, he still wasn’t pulling in enough air to be comfortable.

His vision was a little blurry from the lack of air and the strain of trying to calm himself down, but he could see enough to tell that Lee was now slamming her fist into the stomach of the mutant who had just put Tarin on his ass.

His breath coming a bit more easily now, the strangled gasps turning into short huffing breaths, Tarin could help but think that maybe next time he should tell the spirits to protect them both, even if he didn’t plan on physically engaging with anyone.

When Lee punched him, the man doubled over with a groan. Not giving him a chance to recover, Lee moved slightly behind him, wrapping her arm around his neck as she pulled him back up straight. Lee wasn't completely choking the man, but she was definitely using enough force to make it difficult.

As she started siphoning, the man's hands came up to grab at her arm, attempting to pull it away from his neck. But even without the energy she was getting from him, Lee already had enough that someone with ordinary human strength would have no hope of being able to force Lee's muscles to move.

Though, his nails scratching desperately at her arm did hurt. "Ok, enough of that," Lee told him as she released the hold. And in the second where she was not holding the man up, he fell to his knees where he was standing.

A moment later, the man was trying to scramble away, trying to turn to face her. That was interesting. Did his power only work in front of him?

Lee grabbed the man's upper arms, holding them against his body as she continued to siphon and turned so he was facing into the park. If he could only direct his power in front of him, it wasn't going to do a whole lot of good now.

It didn't take much longer at that point before the man had passed out, hanging from the grip that Lee had on his arms. Lee stood there for a moment, looking at the ground in front of her. Then she heaved a sigh and half carried half dragged the man to the side of the roadway and onto the grass before she let him fall to the ground.

Then Lee turned, making her way back to Tarin at a normal pace as she looked at him with a slightly worried expression even though he was now sitting up. "Are you alright?"

It took a few more moments for Tarin to catch his breath, but by the time Lee had taken care of the mutant with the force wave powers and was heading back to him, Tarin was sitting up.

Lee asked if he was okay and Tarin nodded, climbing to his feet and dusting off his hands on his pants. ”Yeah…fine. Just put me on my ass for a minute.” he said.

Frowning slightly down at Lee he said, ”What about you? You’re never going to sleep tonight….”

They still had a bit of distance to cover in order to get home, and Tarin took a moment to try and find the spirits again. Some of them had dissipated, but most of them were stil nearby and soon enough Tarin had re-established the perimeter that he’d established when he and Lee had left the shop.

Man, Tarin really wanted to get home.

Heaving a bit of a sigh, just happy that he could take deep breaths again, Tarin started walking, ”Let’s get home.”

Tarin said that he was fine, and he definitely did look better than he had just a short time before. That was good, as things could have been so much worse.

Tarin asking how she was did not surprise Lee at all. It was somewhat surprising that his main concern at the moment seemed to be that she wasn't going to sleep that night.

Lee just shook her head. "I'll gladly go without for three nights if it means we both get home safely," Lee told Tarin as she started seeing spirits appearing around them again. And she meant it. Especially since she was pretty sure she was going to be going two nights as it was if she didn't find a way to burn off energy.

"Sounds like a plan," Lee replied as she looked around. Then she turned and started walking. "But why the hell did you tell them to protect me and not you?"

Lee pointed out the fact that she’d happily go three days without sleep if it meant they could make it back to the apartment safe and Tarin nodded. In the grand scheme of things, he supposed that Lee would be fine, but he’d seen her in the bar when she’d been around a lot of people with a lot of energy and he’d seen her the night that she’d gotten Kevin from the airport.

It wasn’t just the sleeping that was a concern, it was the fact that Lee was going to have all of that energy and be stuck in the apartment, unable to go for a run or do much of anything to help.

Still. She was right, getting home was the priority here.

They started walking again and the spirits resumed their surveillance, this time monitoring above Tarin and Lee and with revised instructions to protect both of them.

Funny enough, Lee was curious about why the hell he’d only had the spirits protecting her.

”It wasn’t anything brave or heroic…” he said, ”I just figured you’d be the one in close quarters if there was trouble, so I told them to make sure you were covered.” That actually was the truth. ”I amended the instructions for the rest of the way home just a second ago…”

Tarin's answer for why the spirits had been protecting her made sense even if she wasn't very happy about the fact that they hadn't done a thing to protect Tarin when that wave had hit them. And Lee was about to point that fact out when Tarin continued speaking.

He had already changed the instructions for the spirits to protect both of them.

"Well. Good," Lee said.

Thankfully, the rest of the way home was pretty much uneventful thanks to the spirits clearing the path for them. About the most that they had to do was run across the street to get onto the block their building was on to try and avoid being seen by a group causing havoc further down the cross street, close but beyond the reach of the spirits.

Lee still didn't relax and turn her siphoning off completely until they were in their apartment and the door was locked behind them.

Heaving a sigh as she sat down on the bench in the entryway, Lee was finally able to remove the shoes she had ended up walking and running in far more than she had ever expected to that day and attempted to let her very energized body relax for a moment.