Lee seemed satisfied with Tarin’s explanation of why the spirits had only protected her. It was almost funny that he was as relieved by that as he was that, according to the spirits, there weren’t any other crazed mutants or gangs of miscreants around.

The rest of the way home was honestly pretty good. The spirits did their job admirably, keeping Tarin and Lee out of the way of one final group that had apparently been bound and determined to cause trouble near the block that held their apartment.

Whether it was because that block was mostly residential, or because it was just far enough off the beaten path, things inside the building were relatively quiet.

They were even quieter when Tarin and Lee made it up and into their actual apartment.

The door shut and locked, Tarin stood in the entryway and just breathed for a few moments. The apartment was just as they’d left it that morning, no signs of the trouble that was happening outside.

Lee sat down on the bench by the door and took off the heels that she’d been wearing the whole day and Tarin shook his head.

Moving to sit next to Lee on the little bench, Tarin leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes for a few moments.

”All of that really just happened, didn’t it?” he said.

Her heels off, Lee leaned back just as Tarin sat down beside her. And other than their breathing, the apartment was completely silent for a couple of moments.

When Tarin spoke, Lee just nodded before leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'm going to have to say yeah, it did," Lee confirmed after a moment. "Unless we both just had the same, very bizarre hallucination, which in my experience is also very possible. But yeah, I'm going to go with all of that really did just happen."

And while the day's events were far from the strangest that Lee had ever experienced, Lee was pretty sure it was very high up on Tarin's list of strange.

Lee just sat there for a few more moments, head on Tarin's shoulder before she looked up at him again with a small smile. "You were pretty amazing out there," she said as she reached for his hand.

Lee did, in fact, think that everything had really happened.

That was good, Tarin supposed as Lee’s head came to rest against his shoulder. Her other suggestion, that this was some kind of shared hallucination, seemed somehow worse. Tarin didn’t know how, but it was definitely worse.

They sat there together for a few more moments, and Tarin was about to let his eyes slip shut again, just to rest for a moment, when he felt Lee’s head move.

Down Tarin looked at Lee as she spoke, and he couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit when she said he’d been amazing out there.

”Do you mean the part where I fell down twice? he asked, ”Or the part where I didn’t know there was an entire panic room in my shop.”

Yes, Tarin knew that he’d done well with his powers once he’d thought to use them, but Lee was the one who had really shined.

”You were really amazing out there too though. Saved my bacon more than once.” he said, entwining his fingers with Lee’s as she reached for his hand.

Lee shook her head. "No, not that," Lee told him. "The number of spirits that were not just visible, but were fully solid, and for how long you kept that up with everything that was going on." Lee paused and shook her head with a slight smile. "I didn't know that you could do that much."

"And, just the fact that you did all of that, in public. You were amazing.

Tarin had to one up her though, saying that she had been really amazing. Lee managed not to blush, now that she could think back even she could admit that some of what she'd done was amazing, but she did dip her head down a bit.

"That guy who looked to be made of metal had me very worried," Lee admitted, not looking up. "But with the energy I had, everything else really wasn't that big of a deal."

Well. At least Lee wasn’t thinking about the sillier aspects of what happened to and from the shop.

Tarin had known that Lee meant everything he’d done with his powers, but it was easier to deflect than to actually think about the fact that he’d traipsed right down the middle of the street with spirits flying everywhere in full view of anyone out there and whatever cameras and surveillance and whatever else were probably all over the place. It wasn’t nearly the issue here that it would have been on the other side, but old habits were hard to break.

It was a moot point now though, and there wasn’t any point in worrying about it. Besides, Lee thought it was amazing and Tarin couldn’t help but smile shrugging a bit uncomfortably.

”We needed to get to the Mansion and it was a long way away. I knew that if you had to fight our way there it would have taken too long.” Not that Lee couldn’t have done it…

”Sorry I didn’t help before…I didn’t think about it.”

But wait a minute…was Lee actually acknowledging that what she’d done out there had been amazing? She certainly wasn’t disagreeing with Tarin and his smile grew to a wide grin as he thought of all the different times that night that Lee had done wildly amazing and cool things.

That reminded him.

”How’s your hand?” he asked, ”Did it start swelling yet? Can you still move it alright?”

It sure would have taken a lot longer to make it as fast as they had if Lee had had to fight their way through the streets like had been done on the easy to the shop. It would have also been a lot more dangerous, a lot more risky. Because all it would have taken was one mistake, not noticing one thing…

Tarin was also now apologizing for not helping before he had with the spirits. "I know why you didn't," Lee told him softly. And she did know why it had been so hard for him to do, why it had taken so long for him to do it.

"Well I'm proud of you for helping once you did," Lee said.

Then Tarin was asking about how her hand was. Looking down at the hand that was holding Tarin's, Lee thought for a moment. "It feels perfectly fine," Lee told him, actually a little surprised that it did feel alright. She'd even used it more times after that first punch that sent the speed guy through the window.

Tarin still thought that Lee was giving him a bit too much credit. He really had been too overwhelmed, too scared, too hopped up on adrenaline to think ahead far enough to use his powers when they’d first been making their way to the shop.

Lee seemed empathetic to his reasoning though, and wasn’t holding it against him that he’d practically left her high and dry for that first little bit so Tarin wasn’t going to argue.

And she was proud? Well, that just made Tarin warm and fuzzy all over. How long had it been since someone had said something like that to him? ”Thanks…” he said, uncomfortably but sincerely.

As for Lee’s hand, she said again that it felt perfectly fine and Tarin frowned thoughtfully as she looked down. Surely she wouldn’t have been holding his hand like that if she was trying to avoid contact because of pain or anything…but how?

Raising their hands to eye level so he could see better, Tarin turned Lee’s back and forth a couple of times before planting a kiss on the back of it.

”I don’t know how…but I’m glad. How about your feet? Need anything?” he asked. Tarin had been given permission to fuss after the last fight with Tony after all, and he fully intended to fuss. Lee had earned it.

Tarin seemed to be about as uncomfortably accepting her praise as she generally was accepting it from him. But what he had done really had been amazing. How many spirits he had had floating around, how effective they had been in their job of finding or making a clear path for them to make their way through the streets.

Lee didn't push it, though. Even though he sounded uncomfortable when he said thanks, Lee could also tell that he really meant it, he wasn't just simply saying the word. He knew how she felt about it, she didn't need to push it.

But when Lee told him that her hand was actually feeling just fine, Tarin lifted it up to look at it closer. Lee looked at it again herself. It really did look alright; no visible bruising, no cuts on the skin. Nothing looked broken. Then he kissed the back of her hand, and Lee smiled.

"I'm really not sure how either," Lee admitted. "I don't know for sure if I hit him harder, but I definitely had more energy when I punched Tony."

And Tarin was starting to fuss. Though, after Tony she had told him that he was allowed to fuss. "My feet do actually hurt, though," Lee admitted. "I haven't actually walked that far in heels in years."

Lee was surprised too and Tarin sat there for a minute pondering the possibilities as she explained that she even thought she’d hit the man in the shop harder than she’d hit Tony.

Lee also hadn’t had the time to prepare for the hit that she’d had when she had hit Tony. By all rights, her hand should have been a mess. Again, Tarin was immensely glad that it wasn’t.

Lee was in a highly accepting mood, Tarin decided because admitted that her feet hurt. Either that or they were practically falling off. The latter didn’t seem to be the case so he leaned his head back against the wall and chuckled for a moment.

”Or kicked that much ass…” it wasn’t really something to celebrate, because realistically speaking those had been people. But still, they’d made a choice and Lee had responded in kind. They’d all wake up the next day, and she hadn’t had to be that nice.

”Every time I need a pick me up for weeks, I’m just gonna think about the look on that metal guy’s face right after you hit him…” Tarin closed his eyes and smiled, ”The Mets could totally use a bat like yours….” he added thoughtfully a moment later.

Sitting there all night wasn’t going to get them any more comfortable though, ”Good to get to the couch? Want a change of clothes? Food?” Tarin said, standing up and rattling off all the options he could think of at the moment. They hadn’t even had lunch and that felt like days earlier.

”I feel like I need to be doing something.”

"Or kicked that much ass…”

Lee simply nodded. It had been well over a decade since she had needed to do anything like what she'd just done outside of a gym setting. Well, other than that one night at the shop.

None of it had been a great situation, but Lee couldn't help but laugh when Tarin mentioned metal man's face. "I did not expect him to fly back like that," Lee admitted. And he had flown. "That did hurt at the time, though..."

Lee simply shook her head when Tarin commented that the Mets could use her. "I'm pretty sure every other team would consider that cheating."

And let the fussing start. Tarin was asking if she was alright to even get to the couch because her feet hurt. As well as other things he could do or get as he stood up. "I think changing would be a good plan," Lee said, then paused to think when Tarin said he needed to do something.

"Maybe see if there's something we can snack on?" Lee suggested as she stood as well. She wasn't feeling very hungry at the moment because of all of the adrenaline from that afternoon, but they hadn't actually gotten the chance to eat lunch.

Stretching up, Lee gave Tarin a quick kiss then made her way to her bedroom. It only took a couple minutes for Lee to change, and soon she was making her way out of her room again wearing a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top making her way to the couch.

Lee mentioned how the metal guy had flown and Tarin had to chuckle again. It had been absolutely amazing. Tarin didn’t need to say it again though so he just enjoyed the thought and smiled.

Lee thought the other teams would have a problem with her playing for the Mets? She was probably right.

”Probably for the best. I don’t know if I could handle you in full uniform. I might die on the spot and miss an actual pennant race.”

Lee was going to change. Okay, that was good, she probably wanted to after all of that drama. He was supposed to get snacks?

Okay. That was something to do. They hadn’t eaten. Tarin wasn’t particularly hungry himself, but maybe snacks would be good.

Into the kitchen Tarin went and set about rummaging in all the places that they kept food.

A few minutes later he emerged with some pretzels, some crackers, some of those little cheese slices that fit right on the crackers, and some of that popcorn that comes already popped in the bag. Surely there was something workable there.

Dropping everything on the coffee table, Tarin sank down onto the couch next to a much more comfortable looking Lee.

”So I guess Kevin just didn’t have his phone? “

It might have been annoying in another situation, but tonight it was just a relief.

Lee just shook her head at Tarin as she made her way to get changed. She still didn't understand why he thought she was so cute when she wore his baseball hat. But he thought he might die seeing her in a full uniform?

That was never going to happen, Lee thought as she was getting changed. No matter how much Tarin might like it.

But it didn't take long for the two of them to make it out to the living room, and Tarin had taken her suggestion of getting snacks seriously based on how much he had brought out from the kitchen.

Lee still wasn't really hungry, even seeing the food in front of them, so she simply relaxed back into the couch as Tarin asked about Kevin not having his phone. Lee shook her head. "They aren't being allowed outside and were told to stay in the common areas," Lee told Tarin what Kevin had said over the phone.

"So they were watching a movie and his phone was on the table on silent," Lee continued. Though, now that the panic had subsided and she had a moment to actually think about it, Lee wondered what movie they would have been watching that would have had his attention so fully. "There's not nearly as much happening up there thankfully. But the kids have heard at least basics of what's been happening."

The kids at the Mansion had been restricted to common areas and weren’t being allowed outside. Tarin nodded, it was definitely good that the school was taking things seriously and had eyes on all the kids, wouldn’t want them sneaking off and getting heroic illusions of grandeur.

It made sense that Kevin’s phone had been on silent during a movie, but Tarin had to shake his head and smile just a bit at how strongly both he and Lee had reacted when the teen hadn’t picked up. It was a long way to the Mansion, but they’d both been prepared to do it.

Still, watching a movie seemed innocent enough, and a good distraction, and Tarin didn’t know if Lee agreed, but he thought it was probably a good thing that the students knew something was going on. It was better than them finding out through back channels and spreading rumors.

The food was sitting, untouched, on the table, and Tarin found that despite their lack of lunch he just wasn’t all that hungry.

”I’m really glad his phone was just on silent.” Tarin said.

It really was such a good thing that Keviun's phone had simply been on silent. Would have been better had he answered right away, but it was good that was all that it had been. Lee had been so completely panicked when Kevin hadn't answered his phone that she had left the shop with barely more of a plan than simply 'get to Kevin'.

"But thank you," Lee said, looking up at Tarin after a moment with a smile. "I mean, you didn't have to come with me, you could have just stayed in the shop. Where it was safe. So thank you."

And now that she was thinking about it, it really was kind of surprising that he had. He was so avoidant of risk and danger, of not being noticed most of the time, Lee could only guess because of how he had grown up, that the more she thought about it, the more surprising it was that Tarin had not only come with her, but had openly used his powers while doing so.

"I really appreciate it."

Lee thanked him and Tarin looked at her a little quizzically, then she kept speaking and Tarin started to frown.

He didn’t have to go with her?

He could have stayed in the shop?

She really appreciated it?

”You’re joking right?” Tarin said, unsure whether or not he should be offended. Clearly Lee hadn’t meant to say anything to upset him, she’d been thanking him…but did she really think that he would have stayed behind in the shop?