Kevin frowned more as his Mum just sat there and looked at him for a little bit.

Then she said that Robert didn’t like Tarin because Tarin’s powers were like Kevin’s Dad’s had been. Well yeah, that made sense didn’t it? Why would that be such a problem?

But then his Mum started talking again and Kevin just kind of blinked at her. When his Dad had problems with his powers his Mum got hurt? Kevin didn’t remember that ever happening.

”What do you mean you got hurt? How can the spirits hurt people if he didn’t want them to?”

Kevin seemed to be getting part of what she was saying, but definitely not everything. And being her son, the only thing that not further explaining would do would be to cause more worries, if not now, then later when he had more of a chance to think about it.

"The spirits that are able to take energy so they can do things, that includes being able to touch things, people," Lee explained. "And since they were able to take energy, they aren't going to do what your father, or what Tarin, want them to do."

"But when something like that happens, the best way to stop them from being able to take that energy is to make sure there isn't energy to take. And that makes the spirits angry. At me."

The spirits could touch things and people, and when they were strong and angry like that they couldn’t be controlled. Not by his Dad or by Tarin.

Kevin kept right on frowning at that. He had so many more questions now, and he was kind of surprised that he hadn’t ever thought of those questions before.

The best way to fix that was to make sure that the energy the spirits needed wasn’t there any more. Okay, that part made sense.

It also made sense that the spirits would be mad when that happened because hey needed the energy to do the things they wanted to do.

”I don’t remember you ever getting hurt…” Kevin said, trying to think back. He didn’t like that part at all, but it did bring up another question.

”But if it’s bad spirits doing bad things why would Uncle Robert be mad at my Dad…or Tarin. It’s not like it’s their fault…”

"Of course you would have never seen me hurt from that," Lee said as it if should have been obvious. "It was just a couple of bruises that I kept covered. And the last time it happened to your dad was before you were born."

But why would Robert be mad if it was spirits hurting her? "Well, your uncle never really liked your father," Lee explained. "Your uncle didn't think he was good enough for me."

"Those spirits that are able to just take energy…" Lee sighed slightly and looked up at the ceiling as she thought about how to explain this.

"You know those movies where ghosts possess people? Well, that's really not too far off." There was a reason why Lee didn't watch ghost movies when she chose something in the horror genre.

Robert was mad at Tarin for things that had happened before Kevin had even been born?

Grown ups were so incredibly weird sometimes. Kevin didn’t get it and just shook his head. He really didn’t like the fact that whatever had happened caused his Mum to be hurt though.

Kevin kept right on thinking that when his Mum said the next thing. What did Uncle Robert have to do with anything his Mum wanted to do? That made Kevin frown even more. Maybe he’d ask his Uncle the next time they hung out together.

Finally though, his Mum was gonna explain more.

Wait.

Was what she was saying…Kevin just looked at Lee for a little bit, blinking and trying to wrap his head around what she had just said.

”So…when you said the spirits can do things…or the spirits get angry at you…” he said. Then stopped for a minute and thought again.

“You meant that the spirit…was controlling my Dad?” That…that made more sense why Uncle Robert would be confused, but Kevin was sure his Mum had explained things. Robert didn’t have powers though, so maybe it was harder to understand.

Kevin thought for another beat, ”And that happens to Tarin too? How…how do you know if it’s happening?”

Lee could literally see Kevin putting the pieces together in his head. Spirits forcefully taking energy to interact with the living world. That ghost possession stories weren't far from the truth.

Lee's lips were pressed together when Kevin realized exactly what that all meant and she nodded slightly. "Generally? Yes, that's what that means," Lee told Kevin.

Then Kevin went ahead and asked the most important question.

"That can be difficult to figure out sometimes," Lee said thoughtfully. "And it has happened to Tarin, just twice.

"But they won't act quite right. Or say things weird," Lee told Kevin. "One time I suspected but wasn't sure and said to fix its hair. The spirit tried to smooth your father's hair down."

"I can also feel some extra energy, when that's the case."

So. If this thing was happening, a spirit could take over control and it could be hard to tell when that was happening.

Kevin’s Mum had ways to tell, but they seemed really tough. Except the energy part. Kevin knew his Mum was really good at her powers and if she could tell that way, then that was definitely good enough.

What if she wasn’t around though? Kevin shook his head, he needed to think about this.

“Okay.” he said, taking a deep breath.

”I might have more questions about all of this later.” Kevin said quietly, then looked down at his phone.

“Is that why all the grown ups are so weird about Tarin? Did everyone but me know about this?”

Lee could tell that Kevin was having trouble understanding this. It had been hard for her to wrap her head around it at first as well.

And he might have more questions about the merging later. That was completely understandable and Lee nodded. "So you know and aren't worrying, I don't expect that to happen with Tarin ever again," Lee told him. "But if you are ever concerned and I'm not around, ask him a question about the Yankees as though he likes them."

Was this why adults were weird about Tarin? And did everyone know about the merging? "Your aunt and uncle knew about it," Lee told Kevin softly. "So do your Uncles Josh and Ash, and your grandma. If my parents know anything about it, it's because Uncle Robert told them."

"But honestly, I'm not sure why everyone is so weird about Tarin," Lee admitted. "It does seem to be humans more than mutants who are weird, doesn't it? So maybe it has something to do with not understanding 'weird'?"

His Mum didn’t expect that to happen with Tarin ever again? She sounded really sure, but how was she so sure? This was one of those things that he just needed to trust her about, Kevin knew…but what he knew was kind of scary. Tarin never seemed to have any problems with his powers, how could anyone ever tell?

The Yankees? Tarin didn’t like the…”Oh.” he said, ”Okay. I can do that…”

And yeah…pretty much everyone but him had known about this. Kevin didn’t know how to feel if he was being honest with himself. It would have been a really hard thing to know about when he was littler. It might have been scary to think about.

His Mum didn’t know why everyone was so weird about Tarin, but did point out that it was mostly people who weren’t mutants who were weird about him. Kevin thought about it for a moment and nodded. That kind of made sense. ” I still don’t get it.” Kevin said. “They’re two different people…”

This wasn’t getting more questions answered though.

“ Did you learn to fight from the X-Men? Is that how you know them?

Kevin seemed to understand what she meant with the Yankees. That was good. That should work if, somehow, at some time, it happened again.

And Kevin didn't understand how people didn't understand that Tarin and his father weren't the same person. "I'm now sure how either, Kev," Lee said.

"And no, I didn't learn to fight from them. Sam, Cold Steel, I met when we literally ran into each other outside the Chinese restaurant. The others, I mostly met at the mansion when I stayed there for a little bit."

But really, where had she learned to fight? Up until Columbia, she hadn't really learned anything. And in Columbia, she had mostly relied on her speed. And after that, as well as merges, she'd had hours to rethink everything.

"To be honest, a lot was self taught," Lee admitted. "Especially when I was younger. Most of the time when I've had to actually fight, I've ended up awake for a long time and spent hours thinking about what I could have done differently or better.

"But your father and I did take some self-defense lessons. And I learned a lot from Blaine."

The fact that his Mum called Cold Steel by his first name and talked about him like they were old friends was still utterly wild to Kevin. How had he gone his whole life without knowing that his Mum was friends with the X-Men?

”Why did you stay there for a while?” Kevin asked, ”You didn’t go to school there did you? I thought you were too old to go to school there.”

And his Mum was mostly self taught? How was that even a thing? He’d been working with her for what felt like ages and Kevin didn’t think he could fight even a quarter as well as his Mum.

When she’d had to fight, she’d been awake for long periods of time. That meant she’d used her powers in the fight.

At the news that she’d taken self-defense classes with his Father, Kevin looked at his Mother with wide eyes, ”My Dad learned how to fight?” he said, clearly a little disbelieving.

“What else don’t I know?” he said, suddenly feeling like his list wasn’t nearly long enough.

Lee realized that she'd walked herself into more questions with talking about staying at the mansion. Though this story wasn't as…bad as some of the ones that Kevin could be asking about.

"No, I didn't go to school there," Lee confirmed. "I stayed there for a little over a month while your father was in the infirmary there. He ended up in a cemetery and was overwhelmed by the number of spirits. It was horrible, but he discovered a new part of his powers: he left his body. Kind of like astral projecting, but he couldn't get back in his body. But we didn't know any of that, it was like he was in a coma for a month."

Lee laughed slightly when she saw Kevin's reaction to the news that his father had learned how to fight. "Yes, he learned a bit. But I still beat him almost every time."

What else didn't Kevin know. That list was probably longer than the list of things that he did know, especially about his parents. And Lee was not going to tell him everything, not by a long shot. "Well, what else is on your list there?"

Kevin’s Mum answered his question about the Mansion and Kevin felt his jaw drop. There was so much that he didn’t know about his Dad and his Mum and everything that they had done.

“He could go out of his body?” Kevin said. And the first time Kevin’s dad had figured out that he could do that he had been stuck in a coma for a month? During that time his Mum had lived in the Mansion and gotten to know the X-Men.

And Kevin’s Dad had sparred with his Mum

”I mean, you’re really good at fighting.” Kevin said, ”But you said almost every time. Did he win sometimes? “

She wanted to know about the rest of the list though and Kevin looked down, then back up. “What happened when the building collapsed.”

Lee nodded at Kevin's about this aspect of his father's powers. He definitely had been out of his body. "Only that once, but yes," Lee confirmed. "Your father had to learn how the link with spirits when he connected with them worked from the spirit side, and it still took the doc at the mansion and another healer to get him back in his body."

Well, that was mostly true, Lee thought. The DocProf hadn't really helped with that part, but Kevin wouldn't have been there if not for the man that day.

"And yes, your father did beat me sometimes when we sparred," Lee said with a smile. "I want nearly as good back then, we were both learning. But sometimes he did something unexpected, or I'd leave myself open, or he would get me in a hold before I could get out, and he'd win. "

The collapse. Lee couldn't stop the smile from sliding off her face when Kevin brought that up. "We went to help with that building project, and while we were working, I guess there were a couple of spirits that were desperately trying to get Tarin's attention, so he talked to him. And they warned Tarin that the place wasn't built properly and was going to collapse. I didn't hear that, but it was just in time. The ceiling started coming down and suddenly a spirit has grabbed me and I'm being pulled out of the house."

Lee paused as the memory of that moment came to mind; Tarin saying 'I love you', him diving away from the door as the house fell around them and the spirit was pulling her away.

"There were only the two spirits nearby," Lee continued after swallowing. "Tarin got me and your Uncle out. Robert wouldn't let me go back in to find Tarin, so I walked around the outside of the house trying to figure out where people were."

"So when the first cops and firefighters finally started going in, I went with them, telling them where people were. Where I was feeling energy. Until we got to where Tarin was. He'd ended up in like a little hollow, so stuff wasn't on him, but it was small and he's claustrophobic."

Even once was really cool, Kevin had to think as his Mum explained that his Dad had had to learn about his powers in a completely different way. Kevin couldn’t help but think that this was the sort of thing that Tarin had talked about with knowing your powers and where they came from.

It just floored Kevin when his Mum said that his Dad had beaten her a few times when they’d sparred. It didn’t matter if she said she wasn’t as good then as she was now, Kevin didn’t remember his father ever doing anything resembling fighting and the fact that he’d been able to beat his Mum was just…”Cool”

The answers kept coming though. The building collapse had happened while she and Tarin went to volunteer. Tarin had saved his Mum and Uncle Robert from the collapse…but not himself. Kevin thought he remembered that from the night his Grandparents had visited. That was hard for Kevin’s Mum to talk about. It had probably been scary.

But the rest was news. His Uncle had stopped his Mum from looking for Tarin? That seemed kind of terrible, if anyone could have helped it was his Mum. But she had done her best to find people…

The last part was new to what Kevin knew. Tarin had obviously been okay, but he’d been trapped and he was… “I didn’t know that…” Kevin said. ”But everything was okay. You saved him. ”