Tarin made his way home from the shop, suddenly aware that he was going to have some explaining to do when he got home, to Lee. Somehow with everything else going on he'd forgotten to mention the fact that he'd hired on a shop assistant. A shop assistant that was going to open up a whole new facet to the shop. The barren front room was about to become a full on occult shop of some kind. The possibilities were really endless.

Lee would be in the apartment when he walked in, setting her things back in after she and Rach had brought back the bags. Tarin smiled a bit at how Rachael had chattered the whole time, absolute elation and self congratulation radiating from her very being. Well, at least Tarin had been amused...Lee wasn't thrilled though.

Tarin wondered briefly what Lee would think about a shop assistant...a shop assistant who happened to be a mutant as well. Uh oh...Tarin realized he was probably in trouble...he hadn't even found out what the guy's mutation did. Lee was going to freak...oh well...it was too late now, Tarin thought as he let himself into the building that housed their apartment.

Up the stairs and through the door Tarin went after he unlocked it, "Lee! You here?" he called out, dropping his bag at the door and moving through the apartment, "I've got some news for you."

Now that Tarin was back in the shop, and now that she was permanently back in New York, Lee had decided that she really needed to find something to do during the day. That particular day was a different story, but in general Lee had found herself bored out of her mind during the day. Aimlessly wandering around the city had lost it's limited appeal after the time she had spent with Tarin and in his shop before the Camp.

The distraction this particular day had come in the form of Rachael. While Lee's younger sister had needed to head back to Toronto because of work and school, she was so happy and excited about Lee getting back together with Tarin that she had insisted on coming back herself with the rest of Lee's things that had been left in Toronto. So the majority of the day had been spent with her sister, picking her and the bags up from the train station, bringing everything back to the apartment, and then simply hanging out.

But Lee had wanted to get things organized again, so in the late afternoon, she had dumped everything out of Robert's hockey bag, handed Rachael the now empty bag because she was staying with him for this trip, and then kindly kicked her out with assurances that they'd hang out again the next day.

So, when Tarin came home however much longer after that, Lee was in her bedroom trying to organize her closet. "I'll be right out!" Lee called as she heard Tarin's voice ringing through the apartment. Hanging up the last couple things that she had in her hands, Lee stepped out her bedroom and looked for Tarin, who was in the living room. But his last words gave her a bit of pause. "What kind of news?" She asked somewhat nervously.

She was home, still unpacking like Tarin had assumed she'd be. The urgency in her voice as she ran out to meet him seemed a little much though. "Nothing to worry about..." He said, making his way further into the apartment and grabbing a coke out of the refrigerator before flopping on the couch.

Patting the seat next to him, Tarin popped the top of the can and took a long drink, "I think I'm going to hire a clerk for the shop. That way you can focus on doing other things. He knows a hell of a lot about the kind of stuff we were kind of messing around with selling up front. He seems to know a fair bit about tarot and things like that too. I think he'll be a great addition."

Tarin took another drink while he tried to decide what to say next, about the mansion. A second's more thought and Tarin started talking, "He also lives at the mansion, the one Rupert told me about. He said he can take me to it...I think I'm going to go..." he paused again, wondering if it was a good idea or not to tell Lee his fears, then he shrugged and trudged on.

"The only thing that worries me...is that after I explain what's happened...they'll think I'm some kind of rabid dog that needs to be put down....even though I can't control it. What do you think?"

If Tarin hadn't been so legitimately worried about the reaction he was going to get at the mansion he would have congratulated himself on his clever way of explaining things so that the fact that he really knew nothing of the young man he'd hired faded to the background...as it was though, Tarin just waited to see what Lee thought.

As Lee came out into the living room, she saw that Tarin had grabbed himself a coke and was moving to the couch, patting the cushion beside him, assuring her that it wasn't anything worrisome he wanted to talk about.

So Lee made her way over, sitting on the couch beside him but sidways, her leg tucked under her, so that she could see Tarin easier.

As Tarin talked, Lee felt like a rug had been pulled out from under her. She hadn't actually thought about going back to working in the shop yet, hadn't even thought about it at all, but to hear that Tarin was going to hire a clerk...Not that Lee had actually thought about really going and getting another job either, but despite how little she had thought about the situation, she had just sort of taken for granted that there'd be something for her to do in the shop when she decided to go back. But what would Tarin really need her there for now other than random company if he had a clerk for the shop?

Despite these feelings, Lee tried to keep her face neutral, composed. "That's a good idea," Lee told Tarin, her voice quiet. It did make sense, if this guy did actually know that much about what they were 'selling' in the front of the shop. What Tarin was selling, Lee corrected herself. It was his shop, after all. She had just been around.

But then Tarin continued, saying that this guy, whoever he was, lived at the mansion. And that he was willing to take Tarin there. Yet again, something good, Lee couldn't help but think. While she had met someone who was staying at the mansion, who had offered to show her the place, Lee wasn't sure that offer was still standing after what had happened at the zoo. Or, if it was still out there, not in a way Lee was able to accept it.

"I," Lee started, then paused as she thought. What did she think about Tarin going to the mansion for help. Even she had problems dealing with what had happened during the most recent merge, dealing with what she knew that Tarin had done. So many problems that she tried not to think about it whenever she could. But what about those people at the mansion, who would just be finding out about it then? How would they react?

"I really don't know, Tarin," Lee admitted after a few moments thought. "I'm glad you've found someone who can take you there. The guy I met, well, probably isn't all that willing any more. But whether it's going there or somewhere else, you've got to try something." Lee closed her eyes and bit her lip for a moment before she continued in a whisper. "It's almost amazing how well you're functioning with how bad you seem to have been sleeping."

Lee didn't look happy and Tarin frowned, then realized what had probably happened, he reached out and dropped his hand on her knee, squeezing gently then moving it away, "Yeah, he'll be able to teach us tons of stuff to use wiht customers. I was thinking maybe we'd be able to expand things. I'm counting on you to take it all in an do all the ordering while I'm doing readings for customers."

Lee was concerned about the mansion too, and then she brought up the kind of magic words. She brought up the way that Tarin had been sleeping. The relaxation in Tarin's demeanor immediately disappeared and his shoulders stiffened, his jaw clenched. Instead of the nightmares getting better, they were getting worse, more detailed. Tarin ran a hand through his hair and over his head.

"Yeah...I'm remembering more and more...I guess I was there the whole time...just wasn't good enough to fight it off." Tarin stopped and shrugged his shoulders, then something else filtered through.

"You met a guy who lives at the mansion? I wonder if he knows Garrett. Where'd you meet your guy?"

Tarin had caught on to what she was feeling, Lee knew, even if she had been trying to hide it. The frown and how he squeezed her knee told her that much. And despite how she was feeling, that slight touch, brief as it was, made Lee's heart start to beat a little faster. Though she was hiding that too from Tarin, Lee did like him touching her like that. The problem was, thinking about longer touching was at best worrisome, if not all out panic inspiring.

Tarin's next words, which came as his hand was leaving her knee, caused Lee to blink up at him. He had been planning on her being there too, counting on her to take care of all that while he was dealing with readings?

"Really, Tarin?" Lee asked, a little perplexed. "I mean, you managed the shop on your own for how many years, and with actually hiring someone to work there, I didn't think you'd still need me to help out."

Lee winced when she saw the change in Tarin after she brought up how he'd been sleeping. He'd been in such a great mood compared to how he'd been since she had gotten back to New York that it was almost painful for her to have been the one to cause the change.

But despite this change in attitude, Tarin caught her mention of having met someone else who lived at the mansion. And, when he asked how she'd met 'her guy', Lee couldn't help but wince again. Not because that's the way Sam would have wanted things to have gone, but because Lee had actually been going along with it too, happily, until he had pulled that stunt on her.

"At the restaurant," Lee said quietly. She didn't elaborate on it, Tarin would know which restaurant she was talking about. "You were..." Lee paused, changing the word she was going to use at the last moment. "...sleeping, and I was outside debating whether I could go in there. He knocked me over, then offered to buy me dinner to make up for it. I figured you'd be out for a while, and I was starving cause you didn't have any food here, so I agreed."

When she finished speaking, Lee swallowed, unsure what Tarin was going to think or say about that.

"You know my shops were a mess before you came along and organized me. I never kept good records, I'm awful at cleaning, and we'd have never even had the extra stuff to sell in the front if it wasn't for you."

Tarin shook his head, "You've seen for yourself what kind of shambles the place fell in while you were gone. No Lee, you're an integral part of my shop. If it's going to be something to sustain us, we might as well try to include things that produce more revenue. If this guy is any indication, there's a whole new market out there we can appeal to with just a little bit of study and work. There's a lot of possibilities here, and I'll need you to help me out." Tarin paused and tilted his head, "As long as you want to. I mean if there's something else you'd rather do...I know we'd discussed you taking some college classes at some point, feel free Lee. The registration act is over...we can actually work on having lives again."

Tarin could see that Lee's discomfort about the subject of his dreams was almost as great as his own and he sighed, his hand automatically running through his hair again. "Don't worry too much about it Lee. The shop is keeping me busy enough right now that I can almost forget most of the time. It's always there, lurking and sometimes it hits me hard...I was so oblivious, Lee. I should have known what was happening and instead I ignored it...I really am almost every bit as guilty as he was..."

Tarin was distracted, lost in his thoughts, and he almost didn't hear Lee's words about the guy she'd met. Then they filtered through and he looked at Lee with raised eyebrows. She'd met this guy at the restaurant...the restaurant they hadn't eaten at since...wow. He'd been laying, probably near death, and Lee had been out carousing with some dude. Some dude she wasn't going to give details about. Tarin mentally reigned himself in, exploding in one of his usual jealous rages wouldn't help anything at this point. Besides, after what Lee had seen in that bar he deserved this.

Instead of pelting her with questions of every variety about the nature of her relationship with this other mutant, Tarin carefully composed himself. "Well, what did he say about the mansion? Does it sound like somewhere that I'd be welcomed? Do you think I could talk to him about it too? I'd like more than one opinion." It was hard to keep his voice measured, but Tarin held on to his calm. Meeting the guy would be hard, but what he said was true, and he'd bite his tongue and be polite in the guy's presence. Tarin knew that Lee wouldn't play games with him, she was here because she'd chosen to be here, he simply had to believe that.

Lee listened as Tarin went on about her and the shop, and his ideas which included both. Was she really that important to the shop and keeping in running, at least smoothly? Though, as Tarin did point out, the shop had fallen into rather poor shape while she hadn't been around.

"To be honest, I hadn't thought about what I'd do," Lee admitted. "Taking a class or two might be an idea, but I should probably get resettled again, and there's some other things to sort out first." Lee paused, eyeing Tarin briefly. "You really think this is a good idea to follow?" Lee asked. Tarin did seem eager and excited about it, which made Lee think that he definitely was for the idea. But he was the one who had actually met this guy, he came up with the idea, and despite what he was saying about her, it was his shop.

But there Tarin went again, blaming himself for what had happened during that last merge. His last merge, Lee could only hope, though she knew it was most likely a futile hope.

"It was the same one as before?" Lee asked softly, her eyes on her hands. At least she thought it was the same spirit that had merged with Tarin on another occasion, trying to kill her in the shop. "It was, wasn't it?" Reaching out, Lee squeezed Tarin's hand briefly, looking up into his eyes as she spoke. "I hate to say it, but he was smart. He knew what he was doing, it wasn't your fault."

As Tarin started asking more questions about Sam, Lee was shocked. He wasn't acting jealous, wasn't upset. What was going on here? The one time he actually did have a reason to be jealous was the one time that jealousy doesn't appear? But he was asking about what Sam had said about the mansion. And whether she thought he could meet Sam to talk to him about it too.

Lee swallowed. "I really don't know," she said. This was already awkward and weird, what would it feel like if they actually met? "He didn't really say anything about it other than that he'd be willing to show me if I wanted to see the place." Oh yeah, cause that would go over well...

But Tarin did seem interested in meeting Sam, if only for information about the mansion. Lee pondered for a moment before she opened her mouth again. "I do still have his number," she admitted. "I'm not sure how eager he would be to see me again, though. I think I bruised some of his ribs when I kicked him..." Not exactly the truth, but not a complete lie, either. From what Sam had said as she was leaving, Lee knew he wanted to see her again, the problem was, how he wanted to see her again wasn't the way that he was going to in this situation.

"I think it is a good idea to follow Lee..." Tarin said, head tilted to the side as he looked at her and tried to figure out how to expand the answer to her question. "The more we can expand business in the shop, the less people are going to be completely dependent on me giving them readings. Less is definitely more here, and I think it would be great if you wanted to take a couple of classes. "

Tarin was still stiff, not sure how to react about the things Lee was saying to him about the merge, the things that were going on in his head. She asked if it was the same spirit and Tarin nodded his head slowly, then started slightly as Lee reached out to squeeze his hand. She touched him so rarely, and only when absolutely necessary. Tarin looked up and met her eyes, "He had amazingly little to say to me this time Lee. I didn't know anything until the morning I called Rupert....well I should have known the morning I woke up in my bed after I was sure I'd woken up in a bathtub full of blood..." Tarin broke his gaze away from Lee's, "I was so blind...so stupid. "

Then Lee was talking about the guy some more, how he'd offered to take Lee back to his place, show her where he lived. Tarin knew that what meant in guy language and it got a little bit harder for him to handle it. He reminded himself that she'd met him while they were broken up, then Tarin reminded himself that he too had dated while they'd been split up and it was even easier to handle.

She still had his number...she still had his number...and she'd had to kick him and break some ribs. That was classic. Absolutely freakin' classic. Tarin took a deep breath then shook his head and chuckled softly, "Well, I'm sure if you broke some ribs, he deserved ribs being broken. Do I need to have a talk with him about something other than the mansion Lee? And you can stop worrying about me exploding in some jealous rage honey, it's not going to happen. Not this time. You had every right."

Tarin stopped there, stopped and turned his head away, running the hand that was on the back of the couch over the fabric and feeling the weave under his fingers. "I don't deserve having you here now, so how could I possibly hold it against you if you were trying to get happy?"

Lee couldn't help but agree with Tarin, less was definitely more in this case. How many times had he been revealed as a mutant, and thus her in association, because of those readings? Probably even more times than she knew about, because Tarin wouldn't have wanted her to freak out or worry about it. "I'm still not really sure what kind of classes I'd want to take," Lee told Tarin with a slight shrug. And while she had thought about this in Toronto, it had simply been a passing thought, nothing even as detailed as their last discussion on the matter.

When Tarin started at her squeezing his hand, it surprised her for a moment. Had she really been touching him so little, avoiding touching him so much, that that small bit of comforting contact was that surprising to him? But even as she finished asking herself the question, Lee knew the answer: yes. Part of Lee realized she was going to have to work on that more even as another part worried about the contact.

"He had more than enough to say to me," Lee mumbled. "Especially once I let him out of the cuffs." Lee snapped her mouth closed. They hadn't actually talked about this yet, and Lee had a pretty good idea of how Tarin would react to that comment.

"I will know if it ever happens again," Lee told Tarin, her voice back to a more normal level. "I won't have to guess based on little things that are different."

Lee couldn't help the small smile that came to her face when Tarin asked if he needed to have a talk to Sam about anything other than just the mansion. And he was saying, very calmly when she thought he would be exploding, that she didn't have to worry about him being jealous.

But did she want Tarin to talk to him? It was tempting, though she wouldn't, couldn't, mention the kiss. Even if he was saying he wasn't getting jealous, that might be a little much.

"You might want to point out that it's not a good idea to play tricks on people's fears," Lee said, her voice growing lower again, the smile disappearing as she remembered the incident at the zoo. "Like pretending to pass out..."

Tarin shrugged his shoulders when Lee said she didn't know what kind of classes she was going to take, "That's when you pick up a course catalog and look...or play eeny meeny myney mo. "

Tarin watched the surprise cross Lee's features at the reaction to his reaction to her touch. (wow...mouthful of sentence) She was becoming more aware of those things. Tarin was relieved in a way, he'd known that her aversion to contact was simply a gut reaction from what had happened in the camps. This wasn't the time to think about that though. Especially when Lee actually explained a little bit of her method of discerning that he had in fact, merged.

Tarin shook his head, "You're just bound and determined to get yourself killed at my hands...maybe that's my punishment for being." he said, moving his arm so his elbow balanced on the back of the couch and his head rested in his hand. Then Lee said something else and he lifted his eyes to hers once more, "How are you going to be sure?" Tarin said, trying to ignore the finality with which she said next time. That meant she really thought there was going to be a next time.

Then there was the guy, Tarin's stress level was increasing exponentially as he sat there, talking to Lee. Then she explained how the guy had faked passing out...apparently as a prank, and he just shook his head.

"I'm so lucky..." he mused, rolling his eyes slightly to the ceiling, "You managed to find the one man on earth who is apparently even more stupid than I am. He totally deserved that kick to the ribs."

Lee just tilted her head to the side and gave Tarin a look (you know the look) when he talked about her trying to get herself killed. "I knew what I was doing, Tarin," Lee told him after a moment of 'the look'. "I'm not going to get myself killed.

"Aren't you happy I'm back here?" Lee then asked, only pausing to get the slightest affirmation before continuing. "Then be happy already?"

But Tarin didn't seem to believe her that she'd be sure if it ever happened again. Not that Lee could really blame him; that first time in the shop had been a rather close call. Lee just grinned at Tarin. It had been him who gave her this idea, it'd been him who had hoped it would work. "People radar works," Lee told him, the grin still on her face. "And even if I can't feel it normally, I felt the spirit's energy when it was merged with you." How was that for a surefire tell?

"The panic and worry he put me through there?" Lee asked, looking at Tarin's eyes staring up at the ceiling. "You're damn right he deserved that kick. But I highly doubt he's the one man on earth stupider than you. Maybe the only one I've actually paid any sort of attention to, but not the only one period.

"So, this guy you're thinking of hiring," Lee continued. Even though Tarin said he wasn't going to get jealous, Lee still thought it'd be best to get off the topic of Sam if possible. "When were you thinking of having him start? What's he like?"

Tarin quailed under 'the look' Lee gave him and sighed, shaking his head. Tarin didn't smile though, he really didn't think that it was much of a joking matter. Lee was constantly putting herself in danger, she explained further, telling him just to be happy that she was back and it was Tarin's turn to give her the look.

"You know I'm happy you're back Lee. That's a silly thing to say...plus with all the worrying you've done...I'm allowed to worry a bit when I find out you were in a room with an unrestrained homicidal maniac."

Lee seemed to be really happy though, happy because she was figuring out her 'people radar'. She could apparently figure out when there was a spirit in there with him. Tarin looked at Lee skeptically, "You developed that whole power in a month?" he said, then shrugged his shoulders, "I trust ya Lee. If you say it works, then I'm glad you've got a way to figure it out without uncuffing the homicidal maniac next time."

Tarin wanted to curse when Lee spoke again though. She hadn't given up on the topic of the new guy in the shop. "Ummm...." Tarin said, hand running through his hair again, "He used to be homeless...and he knows a lot about the stuff we're selling...and he lives at the mansion." he said quickly, "Oh, and his name is Garrett."

Ok, well maybe Tarin did have a point there, what with the whole 'being in the same room with an unrestrained homicidal maniac' thing. Or, at least she supposed he did have a bit of a reason to worry about that, but really, with all that energy she had already siphoned from him?

He didn't seem all that convinced her 'people radar' was all that good yet, though. "Well, developing," she allowed with a slight shrug. "I did need something to do when I was in Toronto. But even when you were passed out, I felt far more energy coming from you than I would have expected, at least after how much I had taken. Not like it was coming from two people, but it was different from normal." Lee frowned. How was she supposed to explain this to Tarin, explain feeling something that he had never felt before.

Finally, she gave up trying to explain and just shrugged, looking up at Tarin once more. "I just knew, I could feel it," she told him, not about to actually say she had known without rendering the handcuffs useless, not about to say that she had known and had still set the homicidal maniac free in the apartment. "I'll know if it ever happens again," she told him, full of confidence.

At least now that she had asked, Tarin was giving her some more information on this guy who he was thinking of having work in the shop with them. The homelessness didn't really bother Lee much, especially considering the fact that Tarin had said the guy was a mutant. Lee had been homeless herself a number of times over the years, it just seemed to be something that was much more common for mutants, so she wasn't about to even think about holding it against him.

The part that caused Lee a bit of a pause was how fast Tarin seemed to be rushing through, spewing out all the details seemingly as fast as he could. "You already have hired him, you're not just thinking about it, are you?"

Tarin could still see the cocky, almost arrogant look that was still on Lee's face as she thought about what had happened with the spirit and he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head a little. Lee was explaining all the ways she could tell that it was a spirit and not Tarin, how she could feel it. She was getting a little frustrated at her lack of verbage to pin down what the difference was though, and Tarin shook his head, "I understand well enough, it's hard to explain those things."

He took a chance and moved just a little closer to Lee then reached out and moved a lock of Lee's hair that had fallen forward. He didn't move a centimeter closer, just to there, the hair had been bothering him for quite some time now. "Just don't forget that you're not impervious Lee...I know you're strong and fast and amazing and all that, just be careful, or someone will get lucky sometime."

Lee said that she'd know the next time again and Tarin turned his head away from hers and nodded slowly. Lee was so sure, so sure that there was going to be a next time. Tarin believed her though, there hadn't been any hesitation this time, she'd grabbed that taser and simply had at it. Then there'd been pretty much nothing until he woke up on the floor. Tarin couldn't remember the spirit's scuffle with Lee, but he could remember what it felt like when 10,000 volts of electricity had surged through his body. The involuntary shudder couldn't be suppressed, and then Lee was asking even more questions about the shop kid and Tarin looked down at the floor a little sheepishly.

"I might have told him to come on in Monday..." he said quietly, then looked over at Lee apologetically, "He's been in and out of the system his whole life, running from people in registration, and I think he even ended up in the camps. He was also homeless until very recently. He's even younger than you..." Tarin said, almost rolling his eyes at that but stopping before he could dwell on that as well, "and he kind of reminded me of me at that age...only he's probably been through more. You can come in on Monday and meet him with me, and if we don't both think this is going t owork out for the best, we'll give him the ax. Okay?"