After all of the craziness with the mystic and ankh at the end of the summer, life had finally settled into a nice, normal routine. Morning runs with Tarin, a bit of work for the bar, and volunteering through Haven a couple days a week.

Then there was Kevin at the mansion. Lee had been going to visit Kevin on a regular basis, sometimes on her own and sometimes with Tarin. And Lee had made the trip back and forth with Kevin a few times so he was comfortable with the subway to come home on his own.

At least things had been in a nice, comfortable routine until that week. On Monday, Lee had left the apartment to head to the bar, she had found herself in an adapted's field.

It had definitely set Lee off balance for a while, but with how many people there were in New York City, running across a random adapted here and there was bound to happen occasionally.

Except that it also happened when she came out of the building on Tuesday. And Wednesday. She had looked around the people on the street each day and didn't recognize anyone, which was a relief. But she also hadn't been able to figure out who it was that might have been the adapted.

And then it happened again on Thursday.

Occasionally, Lee could brush off as random happenings, but this had now happened four days in a row, in the same place. That wasn't just random happenings or coincidences anymore. This was becoming a pattern, and Lee was really starting to worry.

The only thing that had kept panic at bay is that not once had she caught a glimpse of someone that might have been Anton.

As Lee quickly strode down the street, she pulled her phone out on Thursday morning, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt her siphoning start again, and shot off a quick text.

'Hey, are you busy? Can I stop in?'

Thursday was close to Friday, and Friday was close to the weekend. After all of the chaos that had brought summe to an end, Tarin was thrilled that life had settled into the sort of mellow routine that he hadn’t even known he’d always wanted.

Sure, there were good days and bad days and great days and mediocre days, but they were all the mundane sort of good, bad, great, and mediocre. Kevin had truly settled in at the Mansion and Lee visited regularly and Tarin had tagged along a few times. As much as Kevin tried to say otherwise, he knew that Lee’s son was glad she came. Kevin had shown himself to be rather intuitive more than once and Tarin was sure that the teen had noticed that not everyone had a Mom who regularly visited.

Lee had also started volunteering with Haven again, and Tarin’s business had stayed just as busy as it had been in the summer.

It was the right kind of problem to have as far as being a business-owner was concerned, but it had him worn out and headachy by the end of the work day sometimes. It had also ensured that it had been a significant amount of time since Tarin had been able to get lunch with Lee or have her stop by the shop during the day. For that reason, it was a bit of a surprise when Tarin got a text from her and as the notification came across his watch he frowned. Seeing Lee was never a bad thing, but it had only been a couple of hours since he’d left.

It only took a minute to confirm what he’d thought he remembered about his day and Tarin shot back a text.

”Of course. Have a bit of free time right now if that works?”

He had a new customer consultation in about an hour, but there was still time to cancel if something was wrong.

It didn't take long for Lee to get a reply back from Tarin. It rarely did unless he was literally right in the middle of a session. And while the quick response wasn't surprising, the fact that Tarin did have time, and right then at that, was a little. He had been quite busy at the shop recently, which was both a good and bad thing, Lee knew.

Still, Lee was very glad that he had some space in his schedule that day.

'Great, I'll be there soon.'

Tucking her phone away again, and quickly made her way to the shop. She was still siphoning, so that told her that whoever the adapted was, they weren't close to her. But she still glanced over her shoulder every so often, actually worried for one of the few times since she had first moved to New York that she was being followed.

The problem was, Lee wasn't sure if there was actually some reason for her to think that, or if this was all just her worrying getting out of hand.

It didn't take long at all for Lee to reach the shop, the apartment wasn't that far, and as she pulled the door open Lee took the opportunity to look back the way she had come once more.

As she finally set foot inside the shop, Lee felt herself relax slightly, actually feeling safer now than when she had still been on the street.

The door now closing behind her, Lee turned and have Tarin a small smile.

Lee would be there soon. Opting to forgo a response in favor of a little thumbs up option to the message Tarin tried to figure out what could possibly have Lee heading to the shop this early in the day.

While Tarin hoped it was a stop just to spend a little time together, those text exchanges tended to go a bit different than this one just had and Tarin found himself the slightest big apprehensive about what was going on.

Everything had seemed fine this morning on their run and Lee had seemed her normal self as he’d left for work. In fact, she’d had things to do today if Tarin remembered correctly. That meant something had to be wrong. Surely if it was something with Kevin, Lee would have been heading to the Mansion and not the shop…so what?

By the time the door to the shop opened and Lee walked in, Tarin was already up out of his chair and pacing in mild anticipation. The small smile that Lee gave him did nothing to alleviate Tarin’s concern, though he did make sure to return it, and as she made her way inside Tarin walked past her to lock the door and turn the sign to closed. There weren’t that many walk-ins these days, but today would be the day that someone wandered in off the street.

Turning back to Lee and approaching to give her a quick kiss of greeting, Tarin looked down at her, mild concern evident in his face, ”Everything okay?”

Without saying anything, after she entered the shop Tarin stepped past her and locked the door. It wasn't unusual for him to do that, or for Lee to lock it herself when she came in, but that was generally done more often for her longer visits to the shop.

Then, after a very quick kiss, Tarin was asking if everything was ok. Because of course Tarin knew that something was wrong. Nevermind the way she had asked to come to the shop so soon after he'd left that morning, but at this point he could probably tell that something was wrong with her with a single look. The same way she could with him.

"Probably?" Lee said, though her voice sounded far from certain. "I don't know. Maybe."

Lee paused and took a breath as she tried to figure out how to explain how the situation, which was probably nothing, was making her feel without sounding crazy.

"There's been an adapted right outside the building every day this week," she ended up saying. "I don't know who it is, or if it's even been the same person. I've been trying to brush it off, but each day it's happened…"

As Lee's words trailed off, she bit her lip. Then after a moment she shook her head and looked up at Tarin. "Sorry, I'm probably just letting myself worry about it more than I should," she finished, her voice quiet.

Yes, something was definitely wrong, Tarin decided as Lee started to speak. Lee was so so rarely this apprehensive or unsure of anything. Everything was probably okay? She didn’t know? Maybe?

As she spoke, Tarin moved closer even though he hadn’t been very far away to begin with, hoping that he could help via proximity if whatever Lee had to say was that difficult.

An adapted? Outside the building? Their building? Their home? An adapted had been outside their apartment every day this week?

Lee was still talking, but Tarin’s mind had drifted back to a different day in the shop. A day when Lee had told him about yet another thing that had happened to her. Somehow this thing had almost seemed worse to Tarin than anything else Lee had told him about, aside from the time she’d actually died.

Something about thinking about Lee in the situation she’d described, out of energy with no way to get any more, completely helpless and unable to do anything to help herself had invoked the kinds of feelings that Tarin had worked incredibly hard to never even feel for a vast majority of his life. Rage was not a feeling that Tarin was familiar with, but it was something he’d felt that day.

Lee had been trying to brush the concern off and was now apologizing because she was probably just worrying about it more than she should.

”Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Tarin said, reaching out to take Lee’s hand. ”Tell me more. Same place every day? Same time? Same amount of time you’re in the field?” the questions were coming quick and Tarin was every bit as serious as the situation warranted. That psychopath that had taken a pregnant Lee off the street was still out there somewhere and even if it had been years it made sense that Lee would be nervous.

“We’ve talked about this before. You have every right to worry. Let’s talk it out and see if I can help.”

When Tarin spoke, Lee just looked up at him at first. Why hadn't she told him sooner? So he didn't think that she was worrying excessively over something that was probably nothing?

Lee squeezed Tarin's hand as he went on to ask more questions. And then he went on to say that she had every right to worry about this. Closing the last little distance between them, wrapping her arms around Tarin as she laid her head against his shoulder. "I was trying to tell myself it was nothing at first," she explained. "We're bound to run across adapteds sometimes. I tend to head to the bar at around the same time most days, so when it happened Tuesday, I told myself I must be just crossing paths with them with their daily routine."

"So I left a bit earlier yesterday," Lee continued quietly, leaning into Tarin. "I'm not in the field long. It was really unnerving that it happened again, but I was trying to not worry. Then today, I left a good half hour later than normal, and was still in whoever's field outside the building."

Lee stopped speaking and slowed her eyes as she took a slightly shaky breath. "It's not him," she whispered after a few moments. "I've looked and haven't seen him. But…"

Why was Lee always so surprised when he was okay with the fact that she was worried about something? Tarin still didn’t really get it. Of all things this was a reasonable fear. Lee knew that most people with an adapted field just wanted to go about their business like everyone else. Some of them didn’t even know what they were doing. It didn’t change the fact that she’d been deeply traumatized by that exact thing and the visceral reaction she had to field wasn’t her fault.

As she closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him, Tarin did the same to her, leaning his head against hers as it came to rest against his shoulder. This was really shaking Lee up, and anyone who wouldn’t have taken it seriously would have been horrible in Tarin’s book. How could anyone see how upset Lee was, how out of character that upset was, and not take her seriously?

Lee had tested the theory. She’d left at different times in the hopes that she’d simply ended up on the same schedule as an adapted and that changing up the time she left would fix things. It hadn’t though. The field had been there in the same place every day no matter the time she’d left. Lee was leaning into him now and Tarin tightened his arms.

Lee didn’t think it was him. The man in the weird little house who had taken her and kept her there. She’d looked on her own.

”You looked on your own?” he said, ”Without even telling me?” Tarin didn’t want to make Lee feel bad, but what if it had been that same psycho and Tarin hadn’t even known what Lee was thinking…what if she had been gone again and he hadn’t known what had happened?

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Tarin spoke, ”It doesn’t matter. Now I know, and now we can work on the problem. I’ll rearrange things for the rest of the week so we can leave together. I’ll also send some spirits to scope things out. I might not be able to link up with them when they’re in a field like that, but they don’t stop existing.”

She'd looked for Anton on her own? Well, of course she had. That had been the first thing Lee had done when she had stepped into the field each day. That day, she'd even started looking before she'd stepped foot outside.

"I had to make sure he wasn't there," Lee explained, though not sure why she had to explain this part of all things. "That he wasn't there outside of our building. But I didn't see him. There hasn't been anyone who looked familiar there all week."

Lee bit her bottom lip as she stood there leaning into Tarin, her eyes closed. Knowing that Tarin didn't think she was worrying over nothing, well it didn't make her worry less about the situation, but it did make Lee feel safer.

And feeling safer now, Lee realized that she hadn't simply been worrying. She had been scared on her way to the shop that day. "Thank you," Lee said softly as she gave Tarin a bit of a squeeze. "I'm not used to feeling like this, so thank you."

”You don’t have to explain…” Tarin said as Lee pointed out that she’d had to look on her own to be sure he wasn’t there. Outside of their apartment building. For a week. Lee had misunderstood what he’d said, but Tarin wasn’t going to put the thoughts he’d had into Lee’s head. This wasn’t about him and how he felt about the situation or why he was worried. This was about figuring out what was going on and how to help Lee.

Standing like they were, Tarin couldn’t really see Lee, but he wasn’t going to move until she indicated that she was ready to do so.

Lee thanked him and when Lee squeezed him a bit, he squeezed her back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. He didn’t need Lee to thank him, he wanted to do something. Something productive. Tarin wanted to leave the shop right that second and storm back to the apartment with spirits at the ready to figure out who was making Lee feel this way.

“I know.” Tarin said softly when Lee said she wasn’t used to feeling like this. Lee was never scared. Lee ran into collapsed buildings, she took on drug cartels, and she walked into the same kind of camp that had imprisoned her to free other people. Of course she wasn’t used to feeling like this.

”But it’s okay, we’ll figure it out. “ he said. “I don’t want this to sound wrong, but I don’t want you to go out there alone any more until we can figure out what’s happening. Okay?”

Tarin said that she didn't have to explain. Lee simply nodded against his shoulder. Maybe she didn't have to explain, but it was still something that she had needed to do. Something that she didn't think she would be able to stop herself from doing anytime she knew that an adapted was near.

Tarin also acknowledged he knew she wasn't used to feeling like she was then. But this, now, went far beyond simply being scared. Lee had been scared so many times in her life. She had been scared the day of the building collapse that Tarin had been hurt, or worse. Terrified after she'd found him and he said not to touch him. Scared and worried about what her powers were doing to Kevin through most of her pregnancy and his first few years. Terrified during the Registration Act.

This went beyond any of that. Lee felt scared and helpless. She knew what she was capable of in terms of her powers and to protect herself. But with an adapted, none of that mattered.

Lee tensed slightly in Tarin's arms when he continued speaking. He didn't want her to go out on her own anymore? Normally, the suggestion that she couldn't take care of herself, that she didn't know what she was doing, that she shouldn't be allowed to make her own decisions about what she did and where she went would be met with at least some anger and defiance.

A moment later, though, the tension left Lee's body and she nodded against Tarin's shoulder again. If this was Anton and she just hadn't seen him, or it was another adapted with a similar goal, Lee couldn't take care of herself. "Alright, I won't," Lee agreed.

After a few moments, Lee took a breath and started speaking again. "It's not just that I can't siphon," she explained. "I could have enough energy that I would be awake for a week. I can still feel all of that energy in me, but the moment I enter the field, I can't use any of it…"

Tarin could feel Lee tense against him when he said he didn’t want her to go out on her own until they figured things out. All he could hope was that Lee knew that he knew that she could take care of herself…better than almost anyone. He could have phrased it better though, he should have asked. Tarin mentally kicked himself, he rarely made such thoughtless mistakes, especially when it was this important.

A moment later though, Lee relaxed and spoke, agreeing to what Tarin had said. He just nodded, trying to figure out what to say, but Lee started talking again and Tarin found himself getting mad all over again.

Lee had been almost shocked when Tarin had understood her worry and told her that she wasn’t overreacting. What she described…was horrifying for anyone who knew anything about Lee. The fact that her knee-jerk reaction in a situation like this was to think that she was probably overreacting meant that in similar situations she had been told that.

Now wasn’t the time though. Right now, they needed to figure out who this person was and why they seemed to always be there when Lee was coming and going. Gg

“I know…” Tarin said again when Lee explained what happened when she was around an adapted, because she’d explained it a bit before, “And it’s so awful. I can’t imagine.” he said, arms still tight around Lee.

“And I know you don’t need me to tell you what to do. I should have asked if you’d let me leave with you…I just started thinking and got scared.” he admitted. If he’d thought of it, Lee surely had, so keeping the thoughts to himself were counterproductive.

”Two…or more…sets of eyes are better than one.”

Kevin's father had seen her in the hospital shortly after being found. She had been weak, but she had had some energy again by that point. Tarin had never seen her even close to that state, either energywise or her physical being.

Yet as she stood there with Tarin's arms around her, Lee couldn't help but think that Tarin understood the fear and helplessness that simply being in an adapted's field could make her feel now.

Finally, Lee pulled back from Tarin just enough that she was able to look up at him. "I'll forgive you telling me what to do this time," Lee said, trying to add a little lightness and joking to the situation. She wasn't sure she quite succeeded.

Two, or more, sets of eyes watching things. Over the years, Lee had gotten a lot more comfortable with the knowledge that there were spirits around. Everywhere. More so since she had started working with Tony.

But this felt different.

"It's kind of creepy that they're going to be purposely watching me," Lee said after a couple moments of thought. "But it is a good idea. They'll be able to see things that we don't have a chance of."

Tarin thought that maybe Lee was joking when she said that she’d forgive him this time for telling her what to do. He could see her face now and he could tell that she was trying.

“I’ll do better.” he said with a little smile, even though he was serious. “You’re the one with all the good ideas anyway.”

The other thing that Lee didn’t particularly like was Tarin’s suggestion that he use the spirits to help keep an eye on things when they left the apartment. Tarin knew what he did was uncomfortable for most people, but he hadn’t realized that it bothered Lee so much too. Just another reason his powers sucked.

“We don’t have to bring them into it.” he said, ”It was just a thought. They wouldn’t really be watching you either.” he added, ”That would be my job in this scenario.” A thought occurred and Tarin frowned thoughtfully. ”Could ask Tony and that other guy to watch early in the mornings. At least we know they can respect boundaries.”

Still. ”The point is to make you feel better, not worse though, so if it’s a no, it’s a no.”

Lee had no doubts that Tarin would do better. That was not even a question in Lee's mind. When he had made mistakes in the past, or done something Lee hadn't liked, that had been it. Tarin hadn't done it again.

"Not the only one," Lee said with a slight shake of her head. "It is a good idea. I think it's just the idea of being watched on top of everything else right now."

It was his job to watch her. Now that part Lee liked.

Lee took a breath as she looked up at Tarin. "I'll feel better once we future out who this is and what they want," she told him. "I would feel better with it being them, though."