((OOC: this thread takes place just after the rift closed in 2018, when Lee and AV Tarin initially met))


3 July 2018
Lee was pissed. Tarin had been supposed to have been at her place hours earlier to pick Kevin up. He had wanted Kevin for Independence Day the following day, so Lee had suggested Tarin pick him up the night before. That way they’d get to spend the entire day together.

And then the man hadn’t shown.

He wasn’t answering his phone, either.

Which had meant that she had ended up dealing with a very upset 7 year old. Lee had done her best to distract the child, but it hadn’t been easy. Finally, though, she had managed to get Kevin to sleep with the promise that she would find out what happened and he would be able to see his father the next day.

Got him to bed, and finally to sleep, but much later than normal. At least it was summer vacation now.

After trying to call Tarin again, and still getting no answer, Lee told her sister that she was going to go figure out what happened, making sure that Rachel was alright to stay home with Kevin.

But as she made her way through the streets of New York City towards Tarin’s apartment, Lee’s anger quickly started turning to worry. Tarin had always wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could with their son. He’d very rarely been late for a pickup (much more often late dropping Kevin off because he had ‘lost track of time’ and they had been having fun). He had gotten much better control of his merging ability, and Lee was almost positive that there hadn’t been a merge since before Kevin was born…Not since Romania…

But there was always the possibility hanging over their heads.

Lee sped up as she made her way along the streets. Finally (not all that long of a time in all reality), Lee arrived at Tarin’s building and made her way up, only stopping when she came to his apartment door. Knocking. Then knocking again and again, louder each time when she didn’t get a response.

"Tarin!” She finally ended up calling out as she knocked yet again. "“I don’t care what the hell you’re doing in there, answer the door!”

Still no response. At least no response from the door that she wanted to open. Some of the neighbours had started opening their doors, telling her to cut it out.

Maybe, Lee thought, Tarin wasn’t actually home. Then she remembered him saying he had taken sleeping at the shop again, only having gotten an apartment again because of Kevin being around so much more.

Turning on her heel, Lee rushed down the stairs and back out onto the street. She didn't even need to think about it; she had been to and from the shop so many times, in so many different situations, that she could probably find her way there in her sleep. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t done it in the previous 5 years.

As she walked this time, Lee pulled out her phone, trying to call Tarin again. Voicemail. She didn’t even bother leaving a message this time. Then she took a deep breath and made another call.

Which also went to voicemail. Maybe he was actually busy, Lee thought as she waited for the beep. Or, more likely, he saw that it was her calling and was trying to pretend that she didn’t exi-

Beep…

"“Rupert. Do you know where Tarin is? He was supposed to pick Kevin up five hours ago and I can’t get ahold of him. Call me.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and was about to hang up when she had a thought. "And if it’s because you got it in your head again to shoot him, a heads up would have been nice.”

Then Lee had another thought and started dialling the phone again. It was far less likely to be helpful than calling Rupert, but Lee was quickly running out of ideas that she even remotely liked.

Again, voicemail. Really, was no one answering their phones tonight?

"Josh, it’s Lee. Tarin missed picking Kevin up l and I haven’t been able to get ahold of him. I was hoping that he’d told you something. Give me a call back as soon as you can? Thanks Josh.”

Slipping her phone back into her purse as she crossed the street over to the shop, Lee frowned. The shop was definitely locked up, though that was not a surprise at this time of night. But it looked dark in the shop as well. Not dark like the lights in the front of the shop were off, but there was still a glow coming around the curtain separating off the back room. No, the shop was dark as if there wasn’t one single beam of light coming from inside.

That didn’t stop Lee. The moment that she was within arms reach of the door, Lee was knocking hard on the glass. "“God damn it, Tarin!” Lee exclaimed, kicking the door to give her knuckles a moment’s rest from the knocking. "“You were never even this heavy of a sleeper when we were together. Open the damn door!”

Then she heard her phone ringing. Pulling it out as she leaned her shoulder against the door, Lee glanced at the screen quickly as she took a deep, hopefully calming, breath before answering. "Josh, did you listen to my message? No? Well, Tarin didn’t pick Kevin up this evening and isn’t answering his phone. Have you talked to him recently?”

Lee nodded as she listened to Tarin’s brother on the phone, but she started becoming aware that one of the people who had walked passed hadn’t continued far. She was feeling their energy standing stationary about 10 feet behind her. Close enough that they would easily be able to hear her end of the conversation. She frowned, not liking where this was probably heading. At least it was only one person who seemed to be hanging around.

"Thanks Josh,” she continued as she focused on her siphoning. "I know it’s a long shot, but could you ask Ash for me? And…Try not to worry your mom too much when you talk to her. Chances are, it’ll turn out to be nothing and I'm just worrying too much.” Yes, that was a lie. Lee just hoped that Josh wasn’t nearly as good at identifying her lies as his brother was. "Of course I’ll tell Kevin. And if you find anything out, call me no matter the time. I’ll be awake. Talk to you later, Josh.”

The person was still there as Lee hung the phone up and again slipped it into her purse. They hadn’t moved during the entire conversation. “Can I help you?” She asked, her voice raised louder than it had been while speaking to Josh so there should be no mistaking that she was speaking to them. Only after she spoke did Lee turn to look at the person

He had done it. He had actually done it.

It had been like a mantra going through Tarin’s head for the last few days…He had come through the rift and he had stayed and now the rift had closed. Tarin was here for good it seemed. That had been the plan, of course, after that kid had shown up on the island with his job offers and insistence that SUPER was some kind of protective agency doing its best to look out for the little guy. It was just…shocking to Tarin that he had actually managed to pull himself together enough to pack a bag and go through the rift.

The room Tarin had rented at the hotel was far more slummy and far more expensive than he would have usually liked, but Tarin didn’t know how things worked on this side well enough to know where he could stay without getting robbed blind or eaten alive by bed bugs. Besides, it was far nicer than some of the places he’d stayed in his life and he’d needed somewhere to keep his stuff while he scouted out this side.

The first day had been spent just sitting in the hotel room, flipping through the cheap television channels and trying to do his best to figure out what the major differences were. SUPER wasn’t all over the news, and as far as Tarin could tell there weren’t huge stories about how the humans of NYC were being protected from the mutant threat. In fact, Tarin had seen mutants openly using their powers in the streets. It was wild. The X-Men were heroes over here too, and their presence was well established all around the city. They even had a school specifically for mutant kids and Tarin found himself equal parts suspicious of it and fascinated. There had been a Mets game on, and even though a lot of the names were different…it was still the Mets and Tarin had dug his hat out of his bag and worn it while he watched them play. And lose. It had eased the otherworldliness of this place a bit.

Then the rift had closed.

Tarin’s feelings had been mixed. At first he’d panicked a bit. Sure, he’d eventually planned to stay on this side if he could…but this was supposed to be a scouting mission of sorts. A way for him to find out the lay of the land, if there was even a place for him in this New York CIty…now there wasn’t a choice and Tarin had spent hours trying to make a plan before heading out into the city to walk.

The first question that needed to be answered was whether or not there was a him in New York City on this side of the rift. It appeared that phone books weren’t really much of a thing anymore and and a quick internet search didn’t turn up much other than the fact that there did appear to be a Tarin Brooks on this side of the rift.

That knowledge in hand, Tarin headed for the only place he could think to look. The shop. If it was the shop on this side, it would be a place to start. Carefully.

It was a long walk from where he was staying to the shop and Tarin noted the small differences on the way as he moved. A different type of restaurant here, slightly different styled cars, names that were a few words or letters off.

Eventually Tarin found himself walking past the shop. It was utterly eerie, but it looked almost exactly the same as it had on Tarin’s side except for the fact that there was a rather small woman beating on the door and yelling for…the Tarin on this side of the rift to open the door.

Heart speeding up as he walked past, trying nonchalantly to see if the other Tarin opened the door, Tarin made his way past the shop and down the street a reasonable amount before turning and making his way back. The woman was still there and it appeared she was talking on the phone. Maybe this was a way that he could get some information, especially if this woman was angry that she couldn’t find the owner of the shop. So, despite the fact that actually talking to someone on this side made him want to run back to his room and hide, Tarin stopped and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long, and before she even turned, the woman spoke and Tarin took a deep breath as she asked if she could help him. She didn’t sound happy. Or look happy.

”Maybe…” Tarin said, standing a little straighter, trying to look as casual as possible. ”But maybe I’m just curious what someone could so desperately need from a…” Tarin leaned to the side to look at the window of the shop as if he didn’t know exactly what it said, ”From a Medium’s shop on the eve of a Federal Holiday. Are they usually open?” They were simple questions and if he didn’t get told to simply screw himself, Tarin might be able to start putting a few things together about the Tarin on this side, who he was, and whether or not it was going to be an impediment to him being here too.

As she turned, Lee's eyes settled onto the person who'd been hanging around while she had been on the phone with Josh. The man was taller than her, but really who wasn’t? His hair was dark and relatively short, but because of the darkness on the street, Lee couldn’t determine the exact colour. Or the colour of his eyes. But…

Lee was sure that she had never seen this man before. Yet, there was something about him that looked familiar. She just couldn’t place what it was.

Maybe she could help him? Though he seemed far more interested in what she was doing pounding on the door of a medium shop this late.

"Not normally at this time," Lee replied as she turned to look into the shop in the small gap between the blinds and the doorframe. Looking to see if there was any light from the back. And to see what the state of the shop was, if there looked to have been an…incident. But she couldn’t see much of anything. "Damn it,” she said under her breath, hitting the door one last time with the side of her fist before stepping away.

"I desperately need a reading before a business meeting tomorrow,” Lee answered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

Then she started back down the street. Which just happened to be in the same direction that the man was in. But if Tarin wasn't there, Lee needed to keep looking. Try his apartment again. Maybe call the mansion. Check the news for anything out of the ordinary.

They weren’t usually open at this time of night on the night before a holiday. That part made sense, at least, and Tarin wondered if this woman was some sort of regular. She seemed really desperate to get into the shop.

It was too dark to tell much in the streetlight, but the woman was quite small, and her hair looked dark. She also still looked incredibly perturbed and impatient and not interested in small talk. In fact, she seemed more interested in assaulting the door and leaving.

Thinking back to the phone call he’d inadvertently eavesdropped on, Tarin realized there was a name he recognized in the mix. Was it possible that this woman wasn’t just a client but she somehow knew the Tarin on this side? That was even more convenient.

She needed a reading before a business meeting. Tarin wasn’t sure if was more the tone of voice or the roll of the eyes that made it clear the woman was being sarcastic and he watched for a moment before cursing slightly under his breath and turning to follow her down the street until he was able to catch up.

”A business meeting on the Fourth of July…and you have a direct line to the family of the owner of the shop?” Tarin chanced, knowing he was taking an incredibly calculated risk by testing his theory about the phone call. ”Must be a really important meeting.”

The risk was worth it, Tarin told himself again. If this woman would talk to him, he could save himself an absolute wealth of time and energy. Otherwise he was going to have to start talking to spirits, and he didn’t want to do that until he knew what he was dealing with as far as the other him was concerned.

That was that, Lee thought as she was walking down the street away from the shop. Her banging on the door of a storefront might not be that strange of an occurrence in New York City, but she had not expected the attention it brought to last more than a passing glance.

That man's curiosity, especially with how long he had been there before asking the question, had not been expected.

But it was done with now, and Lee could get back to searching for Tarin.

Except a moment later, Lee felt energy quickly approaching behind her. Lee spared just a quick glance over her shoulder to confirm that it was the man hurrying to catch up with her.

This could be an issue, Lee thought with a sigh as she continued walking. At least she didn't see any weapons.

A few moments later, the mag had come up beside Lee, asking more prying questions about her 'business meeting'.

And being in contact with Tarin's family.

Lee's eyes widened slightly as she came to a stop, turning to look at the too curious man. "And how would you know that?" Lee asked, her voice slightly hesitant. She hadn't said anything on the phone about Josh and Tarin being family, had she? She didn't think so. Just asking about Tarin and asking Josh not to worry Adele too much.

Unless this man also knew Tarin. But if that was the case, why didn't he just say so?

Well, Tarin decided as the woman came to a stop on the sidewalk and turned what could only be described as a surprised look on him, his guess had been correct.

Being correct presented a new problem though. Tarin had already acted like he didn’t know much about the shop, he hadn’t immediately presented himself as a customer in a similar situation…which would have been the smart thing to do.

Hindsight was 20/20.

Now he had to decide whether to outright lie, or cut his losses and tell the truth. Some deep instinct told Tarin that lying to this particular person was a bad idea. It went beyond the fact that he had just chased a lone woman down the street in New York City, an action that was probably considered taboo in any universe. It just…didn’t feel right.

“It took me a minute to realize.” Tarin said, glancing up and down the street for a moment as he worked out to say, ”But I guess Tarin was still in contact with his brothers…”

He waited a beat before dropping what was probably going to be a pretty significant bit of information on the complete stranger in front of him, “But I recognized the names because I’m Tarin Brooks.”

Lee stopped and turned to look at the man and he stopped as well.

Then just stood looking at her for what felt like an uncomfortable amount of time before explaining how he knew that she was in contact with Tarin's family.

At least, he started by simply saying he hadn't known Tarin was in contact with his brothers. Lee's immediate thought was that this man obviously didn't know Tarin if he didn't know that. She had gotten him and Josh talking again a decade earlier.

Then again, Rupert probably had no clue. And wouldn't care.

When the man continued speaking, Lee's eyes widened and she took a step back as she focused on her siphoning, increasing how much energy she was pulling in. "No you're not," Lee said. Was she feeling more energy than she should be from the man in front of her?

If this was a merge, it was very strange. The body was different, so not a spirit. But why try pretending to be Tarin? The full merges had always created a new being with its own mind. No need or reason to pretend. Yet if somehow Tarin had managed to gain control, he'd obviously know that he was in contact with his family.

"You're not Tarin Brooks," Lee repeated quietly.

Oh, he’d really messed up now. Tarin watched as several things happened at once. The woman stepped back, eyes wide, and she looked alarmed. She also told him that he wasn’t…well…him.

Tarin sighed and shook his head, raising a hand to rub the back of his head as he tried to figure out how he was possibly going to explain this to someone who obviously knew the Tarin on this side of the rift.

Again, the woman emphasized the fact that he wasn’t Tarin Brooks and Tarin winced a little bit, holding his hands up defensively, “I’m not the Tarin Brooks that you know, but I am Tarin Brooks.” he said.

That probably wasn’t going to be enough, not with how alarmed this woman seemed to be. How much did she know about the Tarin on this side? Did she think that something freaky had happened with that Tarin’s powers? Obviously the powers were similar, if that Tarin was running a Medium’s shop, but Tarin didn’t have enough information.

“I’m from the other side of the rift…I got stuck here when it closed the other day and I’m just trying to figure out what I’m going to do.”

The man claiming to be Tarin Brooks stood there rubbing the back of his neck as she shook his head. Trying to figure out what to say.

It felt eerily familiar.

Not the Tarin that she knew, but he was Tarin? Lee was still quite confused. She had seen people, spoken with people from the other side of the rift before. But they had all looked like versions of themselves. There were differences obviously, but you could tell they were different versions of the same person.

This man did not look like Lee's ex-husband. Even if he did look familiar in a way that Lee couldn't place.

"Alright, let's say that you are Tarin Brooks from the other side," Lee said, her voice still hesitant. "You don't look like him. How do I know that you're safe? That you're not merged?"

Okay. Progress. The woman didn’t look scared anymore, she just looked really confused. Upset? Frustrated? Skeptical?

Tarin was suddenly glad that he was so good at not feeling much of anything. He’d probably be sick to his stomach later when he thought about how all of this had gone down, but for now he was doing an alright job not seeming like an absolute crazy person.

The woman spoke finally and asked a question that made it Tarin’s turn to look at her with wide eyes. If he was Tarin Brooks, how did she know that he was safe and that this wasn’t a merge?

”Well. The first part is easy enough to confirm.” Tarin said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. He still had his ID from the other side. It was simple enough to flip open the wallet and hold it out towards the woman.

As for the second part, ”The second part, I can’t really prove if you know as much about it as you seem to know…but it’s not that.” he said with as much finality as possible. “But I’m stuck here and I mostly want to know if I’m going to have a hard time existing if there’s another one of me here…so I wanted to scope things out and maybe eventually talk to him.”

The man said that the first part, that he was in fact, Tarin Brooks was ready to prove. And he reached his hand into his pocket.

It was a testament to what Lee was worried about that she didn't even consider the man might be reaching for a weapon in his pocket. Any weapons that would work Lee in this situation would be too large to fit in a pocket like that.

It was, in fact, not a weapon but his wallet. Which he opened a moment later and held out toward her showing his ID.

It was not an ID that looked at all familiar. As she leaned in slightly to look at it, Lee saw that it did say New York, and also had a picture that looked like the man in front of her. It was difficult in the relative darkness of the street, but it looked like it said 'Tarin Brooks' on it as well.

Either this man was Tarin Brooks from the other side of the now vanished rift, or he had gotten a useless ID with her ex-husband's name on it for some reason.

He had also realized that she had been talking with Tarin's brother on the phone.

As for whether he was merged…that was a very good point that he couldn't actually prove it one way or another. Not when Lee didn't know the man standing in front of her.

She also wasn't feeling any extra energy that shouldn't be there coming from him.

At this point, Lee kind of had to believe what he had said, didn't she?

"Well, there should be another Tarin Brooks here," Lee replied, some of the anger and frustration at her ex-husband coming out again like it had when she'd been at the door of the shop.

Then Lee had an idea, something that would now be possible in her search for Tarin that she wasn't able to do on her own. "Since you're here, can you ask them,” she said, tipping her head in the direction of the closed shop. "Where my Tarin went?” And no, Lee did not just call him her Tarin, she had been talking about from her world.

The woman looked at the ID and when she seemed to accept that he was who he said he was, Tarin nodded and pulled his ID back and put his wallet back in his pocket as they stood there in the middle of the street. This situation couldn’t have gotten much stranger, but the fact of the matter was that Tarin was a bit desperate for information. Surely this one woman wouldn’t be able to do much with the information. It wasn’t like SUPER was here.

When she spoke again, the woman admitted that the other Tarin Brooks should have been in the shop. She sounded angry that he wasn’t there. This woman was not a customer. This woman knew the Tarin Brooks who lived on this side of the rift.

Another moment passed and the woman actually asked Tarin if he could ask them where her Tarin was.

Oh man. Not only had he stumbled into someone who knew the Tarin on this side. This woman knew the Tarin from this side. So much for keeping any kind of anonymity or keeping off of the radar of the other Tarin.

“Right here? In the middle of the street?” he asked, “I haven’t talked to any of them over here yet…but I can try…”

The man in front of her, this Tarin Brooks looked almost shocked when she requested he all the spirits about the train who worked in the shop.

And seemed quite surprised that she was asking him to do it in the middle of the street. Where else was she expecting him to do it? If Lee had been able to get into the shop, she wouldn't have stood outside knocking on the door for nearly as long as she had.

"Well yeah," Lee replied. "I don't have anywhere else you can do it and still be close enough to connect them."

Plus, with all of the blatant power displays that Tarin had put on over the years, even only the ones that Lee knew about, she would have been surprised if she of it hadn't spoiled out of the shop and onto the street

"It's not like I'm asking you to make them solid," Lee continued after a moment. "Just all songs questions.."

She really did want him to use his powers right out here in the middle of the street. The woman wanted him to use his powers in the middle of the street to connect with spirits that he’d never connected with before to try and find her Tarin because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

The very thought of using his powers that publicly made Tarin’s stomach turn over a little bit and he could feel himself start to sweat a bit. Tarin knew he was asking the woman to help him but he only wanted information.

Honestly, that’s all she wanted too.

Tarin remembered what he’d seen on this side the other day. That people had been openly using their powers in public in the middle of the day. They’d used their powers and nothing had happened.

So. Tarin nodded, looking around at all the people milling back and forth across the street.

Tentatively lowering his mental barriers, Tarin closed his eyes as he reached out with his mind. There were definitely spirits around. They’d been there the whole time he’d been over here, but he’d never even remotely suggested he’d be open to connection.

A few spirits came closer and Tarin made the mental link with them, braced for what he’d see when he did so. It was just a matter of asking then. The spirits weren’t particularly open to helping, but none of them were particularly strong and Tarin was easily able to suggest that they offer their help.

It only took a few moments.

”They haven’t seen him in several days.” Tarin said softly, severing the connection and carefully reconstructing his mental walls before opening his eyes again, “None of them. I can ask them to look further, but it would take a while.” the words were simple and matter-of-fact. She’d wanted information, so he gave it. Wiping sweating palms on his jeans, Tarin took a deep breath an let it out. Hopefully that would be enough.

This other Tarin did not look all that happy about the idea of using his powers out in the open, or at all. But he didn't say anything else. Didn't refuse, didn't argue or question anything else. He didn't agree, either.

He simply closed his eyes and stood there silently. "I've seen the eye thing before," Lee muttered, crossing her arms impatiently. Not because he was taking too long to find out the information, but because of her frustration and growing worry about Tarin.

Finally, though in reality it was probably less than a minute, he opened his eyes and told her that the spirits hadn't seen Tarin in days.

He hadn't been to the shop, whether working or not, in days…

"Shit, shit, shit,” Lee muttered to herself, turning slightly as she ran her hand through her hair. "This is beyond bad. I swear…If that hypocrite has done something to him…”

Then Lee's eyes shot back to the man standing for a moment before she turned to look in the direction of Central Park. "He couldn't have," she said quietly. "Why would he? There's no reason…"