Tennis is not normally thought of as a man's sport... sure, plenty of men play tennis but when people think of a man's sport they normally think of basketball... football... baseball... or maybe even hockey. Tennis is just one of those safe sports that, even though men play it, is normally considered more of a woman's game.

Jacen King liked tennis but if he had his preference he would have been playing any one of the more masculine sports that better fit his build and experience. There was just one problem with all of those more masculine sports... they required a team. Jacen had spent most of his adult life working with teams and even though he was good at it, he was looking forward to a chance to work solo. In Tennis, he could play with all of his strength, skill, and agility without having to worry about what someone else was going to do. He could depend soley on himself instead of having to depend on a team mate.

After parking his Chevy Colorado in one of the designated parking spaces at this particular New York park, Jacen climbed out and stretched to loosen up any of his muscles that might have tightened during the drive. Never one to go with the official men's tennis style of tight, short shorts, Jacen was clad comfortably in white sneakers, white ankle socks, dark blue knee-length shorts with red stripes running up the outer seam on either side, and a white t-shirt with "I'm ecstatic to be here!" in red letters across the front.

Turning around, Jacen opened the back door of his crew cab truck and after slipping on a his Costa Del Mar 'Wave Killer' sunglasses he grabbed out his tennis racket bag and turned to being the walk up to the sign-in tent. This was the third annual 'New York Singles & Mixed Doubles Amateur Tournament'. Jacen never paid much attention to the Mixed Doubles side of the competition because he always played in the single group. Why in the world would he want to play doubles when he was trying to get away from the team thing for at least a few hours?

***

"I'm sorry sir..." The 5'7" official said in a rather nasally voice, "The single tournament is all filled up. We do however have opening in the mixed doubles group."

"Wonderful... just wonderful." Jacen replied in obvious annoyance, "The only problem with that is I came alone... no partner."

"That's not a problem sir. None of our teams come already formed. Everyone signs up and then we randomly assign one man and one woman together as a team." The brown haired man replied as his voice seemed to get more nasally and more annoying with every passing moment, "Would you like to sign up for that?"

For a moment Jacen was unsure... he didn't really want to play in yet another team competition but he had specifically take this day off from work so that he could come out and play tennis. Even though he didn't want to play on a team, that was no reason to just leave... was it?

"Yeah..." He finally said with just a touch of defeat in his voice, "The name's Jacen King and here," He continued as he pulled some cash out of his pocket, "Is the sign up fee."

"Thank you very much Mr. King. If you'll go right over there you can mingle and chat with the other single players. We'll be announcing the teams in the next ten minutes or so."

"Thanks." Jacen replied as he shouldered his racket bag against and walked over to the tent where all of the single team players were milling around. Grabbing a bottle of water from one of the provided ice buckets he began to sip at the drink as he scouted out the various women that might be assigned to him as a partner. "This could be either very good, or very bad." He thought to himself as he noticed a few women that were obviously in bad physical condition while many of the others had the build of experienced players, "We'll just have to see."

Sometimes Lori spoiled herself. Riding the subway was a treat for one main reason, besides the attraction of the highly electrolyzed rail it rode on, it was the only place where she could bring herself to go shopping. All it took was a little patience and a discerning eye. If one bag didn't work out, switch it for another. So went the game. People were all too ready to forget their bags at peak hours. Most women were so busy not looking at other people, they forgot to keep an eye on their things. Say, that one looked to be about her size...

Lori put her bag in the upper rack next to the one in question. They were both black and about the same size, but not really the same shape. It was still probably enough for a 'simple mistake,' though. Lori stood content, squeezed between two businessmen and anxious for the next stop to check her new prize. The last bag she'd found would have done Venus proud, but unfortunately she was looking for something a little more covering... a little.

The stop came, Lori grabbed the bag and almost switched back to the lingerie bag. It was too light for its size and shape, ah but hesitation would only make this suspicious. Looking suspicious was bad when stealing and so she nabbed the bag and walked away. In the bathroom, Lori dug through a surprising haul of Tennis-related equipment.

Tennis was right behind soccer in Lori's favorite sports to play. There was a reason that most tennis super stars were full of themselves. It took precision, stamina, agility, strength, and best of all it took a will to dominate. Those were all qualities Lori prized in herself, so naturally she fulfilled even the self-absorbed requirement.

***

It had been some time since she'd even attempted to go to one of these establishments, but the word was this one let pretty girls in for less... possibly even free. Free was Lori's middle name. (Well, not literally, but dang. It should have been.) Unfortunately no amount of eye-batting seemed to move the nasal man as so Lori had to ask for a spot from a fine gentleman in the parking lot. He seemed to think she was offering him something in return, but once she had the cash in hand, it was straight back to mister nose-it-all for the entry fee.

"Doubles!?" She growled. After all she'd been through to get here, nose-face failed to mention that the only option open to her at this time was doubles. Well! There was no reason to let her friend's money go to waste. Lori marched herself toward the changing room rather than straight toward the group of amateurs who showed up to play. She just had better get a lame partner so that she could muscle him out and do most of the balling herself because that was why she came here. She wanted to dominate.

She took her time in the locker room first dressing and then stretching. Were all tennis outfits this short or had she forgotten what it was like? Oh. Riiiiight, she never had the cash for an actual tennis outfit before. Blast. Well, at least it would give her a nice range of movement.

She would forgo the pastel-colored sweater that was begging to be draped and folded over her shoulders. She was tempted to leave her steel-toed boots on too, but alas... she didn't think they would let her wear them on the court. She did, however choose to keep her ever-present metallic bangles. There was no reason for this to be a wash. Physical exercise was one of the best times to re-charge.

Someone called the alias she had supplied the nose and "Lily Newton" dropped her bag off into a locker before taking her racket to the court to meet her partner.

"Are the games any good in these doubles matches?"

After several moments of standing silence Jacen had finally engaged one of his fellow men in a conversation. It seemed the the other guy was to busy scoping out the women to hear his question so Jacen decided to repeat the question.

"Are the games any good in these doubles matches?"

"Huh... uh... oh... yeah, they're not bad." The blond haired, blue eyed surfer type responded, never taking his gaze away from an exceptional looking red head he'd been scoping out from a distance of about fifteen to twenty feet, "They're not bad... and the woman aren't bad either. Excuse me."

Watching the other man walk away Jacen looked upward, his face questioning. "Why? Why do you put me through this?"

"And now, if all of you will gather around, we'll begin announcing our teams." The nasally voice announced over a loudspeaker.

"Somebody get that man some breathe right strips or something." Jacen muttered under his breath as he walked over to join the rest of the crowd that was standing, waiting expectantly. Spreading his stance slightly, Jacen began to twist his body gently, continuing to stretch as he waited for his name to be announced. The time was dragging on and for a few moments he began to wonder if he would even be assigned to a team and then, the magic words were spoken.

"And on Court 14 we will have Jacen King paired with Lily Newton, facing off again John Tourney paired with Samantha Goodwin."

"Lily Newton... I hope she knows how to play, or at the very least defend her corner while I get the rest of the court." Jacen muttered to himself as he turned and made his off to the assigned court. "Ugly or beautiful... ugly or beautiful... as long as she's a good player I can go with either."

The walk over to the court was relatively easy. Even though there were other people to go past, most of the players had scattered to their various courts so things weren't all that crowded. The spectators hadn't arrived in full force yet as they would mostly arrive later in the day as the matches were coming down to the final 2 or 3 games.

"A long day of exercise... that's just what I need to temporarily forget about work." Jacen murmured as he up to his assigned court and saw the woman that apparently was going to be his partner, "And that won't hurt either."

The woman's highlighted blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail that allowed all of her facial features to be seen. She was slim, but with a musculature that showed she was athletic. The look of her body combined with the professional look of her white and orange tennis outfit make Jacen temporarily wonder if he was even in her league when it came to this game.

"Hi." Jacen spoke up as he walked in the young woman's direction, "I'm Jacen. I assume that you're Lily?"

Skirts weren't typically her thing. She did them on occasion, though usually it was when she wanted something from someone. Now her tennis outfit left her feeling slightly exposed as she stretched. As soon as the games began she'd forget. She wasn't here for anything beyond the typical human-mutant interaction. A good old fashioned beat down was in order.

"Hi." Lori straightened up from touching the ground and twisted around to see the man that had addressed her. Perfect. That pervy face and muscled man just had to be her partner. "I'm Jacen. I assume that you're Lily?"

"That's me. Lily, like the flower." She kept her voice light and airy as she imagined a rich girl who had been playing tennis her whole life would sound. She wondered if those muscles ever got in the way or slowed his agility. He was fit enough that he might actually try to get in her way. She frowned a bit unintentionally. Interpersonal relationships just weren't her typical gig. The small talk came forcefully, and she didn't bother to shake hands. "Doesn't look like much competition."

She cracked her knuckles and pointed to the other side. There was one potential, she looked about as fit as Jacen, but somehow more of a ditz. Lori lamented. Why couldn't she have been on that team? This guy wasn't going to let her muscle him out without a fight. Maybe she should just punch him and get on with it. These hoity-toity types probably deserved a good jaw-dropping rumble. Lori shot Jacen a sidelong glance as the ref took his place.

"I call front-sies. I've got a killer instinct." She smiled her smile that was just a little too toothy to be polite and let Jacen stay back for the serve. The games wouldn't go poorly with Lori starting up front. She had a good return, yeah, but it was the mind game she was really good at.

"We're going to destroy you." Lily winked at the less-than-in-shape man across the net and waited for the game to officially begin. What a fun day of sports she head ahead of herself.

The blond girl was cute... not she was beyond cute. She was definitely a pretty thing but as soon as she kept her distance and maintained more of a professional relationship Jacen could immediately see that she was serious about the game.

"Maybe this won't be to bad after all." Jacen thought with a slight grin on his face as he walked over to the bench and left his bag there before removing his racket and dodging out to his starting position on the baseline.

"Newton/King facing off again Goodwin/Tourney." A brown haired woman announced from where she had taken up her position as Chair Official, "Quiet please."

Rolling his eyes Jacen crouched down on the balls of his feet as he watched the other man prepare to make his serve. "What does that woman think this is? Wimbledon?" He muttered to himself, griping about the official as he watched his opponent take several deep breaths... and then take a few more.

"This is gonna take forever." He thought to himself wryly, momentarily allowing himself to be distracted as his eyes shifted over to Lily's very cute backside. That was one positive about an outfit like that... when she was crouched and ready it gave him quite a nice view.

THWOCK!

"Ace!" The Chair Official called before Jacen even had a chance to bring his attention back to the game. Inwardly wincing Jacen jogged over to his second position as he felt his neck flush slightly.

"I'm here for the game," He forcefully reminded himself as he listened to the few spectators chuckle, as well as the guffaws coming from the guy that had just served the 'ace', "Women are for later... not now."

Lori made mean eyes at the server and it seemed to work for a time because he he had to recenter himself by closing his eyes and breathing several times. Hehehe. Everything about her demeanor said predator, dominator, killer... tennis player.

THWOCK! "Ace!" Her mean eyes slipped a bit. Maybe she'd put a little too much stock in her partner by letting him return first. She sighed and gave Jacen a bit of a dirty look as she switched to the odd court. "Give me a break." She had to bite back a direct response to Jacen asking him if he could play. He at least knew when and where to go... that meant he had some basic level of knowledge. He should have known to hit the ball back. She rolled her eyes and got ready again.

THWOCK! This time the answering PUCKAH! sounded from Jacen's racket. Lori smiled at her opponents and the ball. It was all so much fun. The woman returned a sloppy, slow arch which Lori swatted out of the air and down. They were scrambling for a return that just wasn't possible.

Lori winked back at Jacen and the game continued. Several volleys followed. By some miracle they scored another point, though that was probably due to a miscommunication when Lori and Jacen called "switch!" at the same time. But for the most part, Jacen and Lori made a decent team together. Jacen slammed another well-placed backhand and before Lori could even properly gloat the game was over.

"Newton/King to advance."

Lori made "oops, did I do that" eyes at the opposition before jogging back to talk to her teammate. "I was afraid you couldn't play after that first ace. I don't usually do the team thing, and I hate to admit it, but we work pretty well... together..." She trailed off the moment she crossed over into Jacen's 8 foot radius. Her knees went weak and her hand went to her chest.

She could feel it. Her charge was still there, but she wasn't getting any benefit from it. No bravado, no energy, no nothing. She felt as weak as a drunk puppy. She looked at Jacen surprised. Was was he doing to her? Lori backed up a few paces until she hit the net and re-evaluated. She felt better... kind of. Still shaken and no longer looking forward to a sweaty high-five.

"Your next match is here. Newton/King facing off against Dayton/Crawley."

Lily shook her head to get her moxy back. That had been a surprise. It figures she would be teamed up with a mutant and together they would decimate the opposition. "My serve." She grinned, hoping to shrug off the feeling of being severed from her reservoir. She didn't like it, but she didn't have to. The court was big enough that she could keep her distance if she wanted. "They ought to be good if they beat the opposition as fast as we did." and sure enough their opposition this time looked more equally matched.

Nods all around for ready, the announcer called quiet and moments later Lori was putting her strength into the top spin on her serve.

Once Jacen focused completely on the game, things seemed to flow much smoother and he had to admit that it felt good to just get out and run off some of the tension that would build up over the course of a work week. It was even amazing that, once Jacen stopped staring at his team mates body, the two of them actually worked pretty well together. Other than one mis-step when they both called 'switch' at the same time, they seemed to know how the other person was going to react in most situations.

"Newton/King to advance."

Shaking his head quickly, Jacen shook off some of the droplets of sweat that had begun to dampen his hair. Turning he walked toward the bench where his bottle of water awaited him when the blond bombshell decided that he was worthy of at least a moment of her time.

"I was afraid you couldn't play after that first ace. I don't usually do the team thing, and I hate to admit it, but we work pretty well... together..."

Jacen could feel his ears getting even redder as once again embarrassment forced a blush to appear. Thankfully he was already somewhat ready and sweaty from being in the sun so he hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't notice. "Yeah... well... I was sorta distracted but... hey!" His voice started off unsure but quickly became stronger as he noticed Lily reach up to grab her chest and begin to look somewhat weaker, "Are you OK?'

Taking a few steps backward, Lily seemed to recover quickly while she gave him a look of shock or surprise. For several moments, she was silent, just looking at him as though he had done something wrong but Jacen had no clue what was going on.

"Your next match is here. Newton/King facing off against Dayton/Crawley."

Apparently the voice of the official was enough to shake Lily back out of her situation. "My serve." She said with a grin, "They ought to be good if they beat the opposition as fast as we did."

Nodding in agreement Jacen walked over to his starting point as he eyes the two they would now be facing. The man was the same surfer type that he had spoken to earlier in the tent... the one that was so intrigued by the girls. His partner was a cute looking brunette that had a very business like expression on her face. You could tell she was here to win and there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

"Game on." Jacen muttered with a slight grin as he grouched, holding the racket in both hands as he slowly rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Lily's serve was a thing of beauty, with just the right combination of power, control, and spin that would make it difficult if not impossible to stop. But even with it being so good, the brunette was up to the challenge, returning it with a powerful backhand.

For a few moments, the women sent the ball back and forth from baseline to baseline as the men waited for the opportunity to jump into this volley. Finally Jacen saw it and at just the right moment he rushed the net, leaping in the air to barely tap the ball and angle it downward and to the side away from the other man.

"Fifteen, love."

Jacen smiled tightly as he moved into his next position and made ready. It was a good start to the game.

***

The team of Newton/King moved smoothly through the ranking until the fourth round. There they finally fell to their first loss, though it was still a valiant effort. The game had been close but the other team had broken through to score the winning point.

***

All the teams were now sitting around, enjoying a break before the semi-final game began. One team for the finals had already been determined and they would be able to enjoy resting through both this break, as well as the next game. The team of Newton/King would move on to the final round if they could just win their next game and then in that final round it would be one winner take all game.

Jacen sat slightly away from the rest of the competitors, sipping at his water and snacking on a apple. While all of the defeated competitors were getting hot dogs or hamburgers from the nearby concession stands, all those that were still in the tournament knew those items would be extremely heavy on the stomach while you continued to play. The light over the courts had come on and in the distance the sun was just beginning to set.

"You play a good game Lily." Jacen complimented when the blond haired woman was close enough that he could speak to her without straining to be heard. It was strange but ever since her... attack earlier, she had been keeping her distance. Was she afraid of him for some reason? Jacen didn't know but he wanted to try to talk to her at least a little. "Have you played a lot of tennis before?"

Lori was particularly fastidious in keeping her skin free from sweat. Her hair was up to keep it from getting wet and causing electrical arches, but that wasn't always enough. Sometimes when she cried or got angry there were sparks across her eyes or mouth. If her skin were sweaty enough it even sometimes arched from her eyes to nose or other humiliatingly obvious places. Normal people just didn't leak electricity, and she'd hate to give up on beating all these people. So she always went for the towel between shots and games. It was also a good way to dodge the teammate.

Unfortunately, he wasn't completely avoidable. In the fourth game they both happened to go for a mid-rage shot. Jacen let her have it, but he was too close. She flubbed and sent the ball into their own net. It was an easily avoidable mistake that helped the other team gain the advantage. After that, she was so angry at herself for mistaking the distance between herself and Jacen and the ball and the net that the rest of the game was a relative wash. Her heart just wasn't in it after that.

***

Lucky for Lily, there was a break after the game and some much needed refreshments. She handled her things as she always did; she was curiously careful to avoid condensation on water bottles and cold foods. Lori drank with her mouth closed or through a straw where possible and held onto her apple with a fresh towel. She'd rather have had a banana, but some jerk practically took the last one right out of her hand.

Normal circumstances dictated that she would have fought for that banana, but Mr. King chose that moment to approach. Lily grabbed an apple and went to stand by the bench where Jacen's bag was. She didn't have to see him to know when he was near, the freaky weak-kneed feeling returned before he even spoke.

"You play a good game Lily. Have you played a lot of tennis before?"

Small talk. She felt like he was sucking the life out of her and he wanted small talk. Normally she wouldn't sit during a break so that her muscles wouldn't tighten up, but if he was going to do small talk she realized that she wasn't going to make it through the conversation standing.

"Look, this is real nice to find each other on the same team and all, but can you cut the crap? You are seriously wearing me out." What should have been a sassy retort ended up sounding almost wounded. Without access to her internal reservoir she felt tired... exhausted even. She could hardly look at him she was so steamed at herself, for falling in with a mutant that cut out her power, and him, for being that mutant.

If that reservoir were drained Lori didn't know what would happen to her - death was a real possibility, but it wasn't drained. It was still there. She felt it, but that was the extent of things. It was like teasing. With Jacen around she hardly even felt like finishing her apple. She felt more like punching him for using his power on her to make her feel weak. He even caused that flub in game 4!

Jacen was looking forward to just some nice conversation with a beautiful woman before bearing down again and going for the win in this tournament. There were some really good amateurs out there so he had no idea if they could even win the next game, but he would surely give it is best. Yep... he had been looking for some nice conversation, but what he found some else entirely.

"Look, this is real nice to find each other on the same team and all, but can you cut the crap? You are seriously wearing me out." Lily snapped at him, her voice sounding as though he was hurting her or something. Jacen didn't get it... how in the world was he hurting this woman? They had barely spoken through the course of the game so he had no clue what she meant by any of this. Was she crazy or something? Had he found another one that would fit in just perfectly with those three characters he had picked up in his truck while out hunting a week or two ago?

"At least this one's not naked... although... I would much rather have her naked than those twins."

Giving himself a firm mental shake, Jacen's eyes deepened slightly, partly angry and partly confused as he stood to his feet and moved closer to the woman. If she wanted to give him attitude she'd find out he could give it right back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jacen hissed as he tried to keep the volume of his voice down so that they wouldn't attract attention, but still maintain a loud enough volume that this woman would know she had pushed him to far, "What do you mean by finding each other on the same team? Do you know me or something? And what crap do you think I'm giving you? I've been nothing but polite... I've even pulled back my game so that you could play your own game more comfortable so, to put it bluntly..."

Lily was definitely a hotty but Jacen wasn't going to roll over and take this kind of treatment from anyone. That's why he was Team Leader of a S.W.A.T. team with really no chance for promotion. He talked back to the officers when he thought they were wrong and he didn't take anything for anyone unless he was forced to. In the military he had been forced to deal with some of the officers, but he didn't work with this woman, he probably wasn't going to date her, and he sure as hell hadn't enlisted with her so there was no way she was going to get away with this.

" What the f**** is your problem?!"

He stood and got in her face. Usually that would have been an occupational hazard, but at the moment she felt as if she needed charge. She was as meek as she would ever be, but he was just pushing her buttons with his idiocy. "What the hell is wrong with you? What do you mean by finding each other on the same team? Do you know me or something?"

"Oh come on. We all know each other, we're practically brothers in arms." Lori's hand went back over her sternum. How she wanted that change, let me count the ways. From a distance it probably looked like Jacen was picking on Lori.

"And what crap do you think I'm giving you? I've been nothing but polite... I've even pulled back my game so that you could play your own game more comfortable so, to put it bluntly... What the f**** is your problem?!"

"It's common courtesy not to use your... Wait-- you pulled your game?" Oh that was it. Meek or weak, it no longer mattered. Lori was struggling to her feet now. "You. Pulled back your game so I could play? Bullsh**." She stood almost a full foot shorter, but that didn't keep her from jabbing her finger at his chest, muscle bound or not. "You've been all over the court so much, I can hardly stay away from you! What is it? Phase shifting a perfect 180 degrees of... what? I don't even know! But you're going to quit it. Whatever it is you're doing, stay away from me."

In truth, she was scared. Not only had he stood up to her, something not a lot of people ever did (let alone got away with), but he had her beat in every scenario that played out in her spinning head. He was physically bigger, stronger, and whatever his mutation was it nullified hers perfectly.

"Is there a problem here, miss?" Crawley, the surfer guy, to the rescue. As if he could have even taken Lori, let alone Jacen.

"Just a difference in strategy, go back to hitting on the wait staff." Lori grabbed her racket and stalked off toward the court where their next game was supposed to take place. If she had to stand there and listen to morons all day, there might not be a next game. As soon as she was out of the effective radius, her hair started to stick up oddly with static electricity. He'd better stay away in their next game or she might not be responsible for her own actions.

"Is there a problem here, miss?" Surfer guy asked as he walked over, glaring at Jacen as though the man had actually struck the blond haired girl or something.

"Just a difference in strategy, go back to hitting on the wait staff." Lily snapped back before grabbing her racket and stalking off.

"You bother here, and you have to deal with me." The guy said, trying to act tough as he stepped up to Jacen, almost touching noses with him. Turning his head so that his gaze met the other man's, Jacen lifted one eyebrow questioningly. "From what I've seen of that lady... she sure doesn't need protection from you."

Without another word he snatched up his racket and broke into a jog in order to chase down the young woman. "Hey!" He called out. She was still mad it appeared from the stiffness of her spine but he still didn't know why.

"I have no clue what the hell you're talking about!" Jacen tried to get her attention as his jogging brought him closer to her, "It's common courtesy to not use my... what? And what in the world is phase shifting? Somehow I doubt you're ticked at me for my charming wit or good looks."

Moving forward the last few feet it took to catch her, Jacen reached out and grabber her arm, spinning the woman around so she would be facing him. "Would you just spell it out! What is wrong?!"

"Hey!" Ah. A warning. It did nothing to improve her mood when he came close enough to cancel out the static electricity that caused her hair to frizz. Nor did it keep her knees from buckling and Lori nearly taking a spill across the court. She stopped and made sure of her balance and that meant Jacen was there... talking... again.

"I have no clue what the hell you're talking about! It's common courtesy to not use my... what? And what in the world is phase shifting? Somehow I doubt you're ticked at me for my charming wit or good looks."

She looked at him disbelievingly. If she had glasses, she would have been looking over the rim at him. Did he... not know? Was she bursting his bubble? She snorted and started to walk off again. "Unbelievable."

And then he did the unthinkable. He grabbed her arm. "Would you just spell it out! What is wrong?!"

"You're wrong!" She swung her racket right at his face, much weaker than she wanted to, but if there was at least blood she'd be satisfied. "Everything about you is wrong. You're a mutant. Did. you. not. notice. it? A freak." With every punctuation she swung a fist or racket. It was the most pathetic fight she'd ever put up and still a crowd seemed inevitable. If she were in her full glory they would never think of sticking around to see her fight.

Tears were stinging in her eyes, but habit wouldn't let her spill them even if there was no chance of electric discharge. She wasn't weak! She'd fought all her life to be strong and here this bozo who didn't even know he was doing it, effectively came along and canceled out everything... everything.

"You're wrong!" Lily said in obvious frustration as she spun around and slammed her rack into his face. Lily was strong but thankfully she had hit with the netting of the racket, making the blow at least a touch softer. The main damage that had been done was where a bit of the frame had hit right over his left eye, breaking the skin and allowing some of the blood to begin to flow. Being a head wound it would bleed much faster, making it look like more damage had been done than there really was.

"Everything about you is wrong. You're a mutant. Did. you. not. notice. it? A freak." She ranted on, swinging her fists and racket at him to punctuate every word. Now that he was expecting it, Jacen easily block or pushed aside her flailing fists and racket while he tried to comprehend what she was saying. A mutant? He was a mutant? She couldn't be right... could she?

Moving quickly, Jacen captured her hands in his own as he felt his whole word beginning to crumble... while the NYPD couldn't legally segregate against mutants, they deffinately didn't provide a happy work environment for them. What would he do if he had to leave S.W.A.T?

"How can you know?" Jacen hissed quietly, his eyes serious with just a trace of panic in them, "What makes you think I'm a mutant? I... I'm not doing anything!" He didn't see anything wierd... couldn't hear anything strange... there were no strange growths popping out of his body.

"And if I'm doing something to you, how come I can't feel it?" Jacen asked somewhat accusingly as his eyes narrowed slightly. That's right... he couldn't feel anything strange around her... well, except for the slightly increased heart rate, but that happened around all attractive women so he could ignore that as a symptom.

"I told you to leave her alone!" Surfer dude's voice suddenly broke in and before Jacen could reaction he was spun around and a fist connected with his jaw. The immediately, and completely natural, reaction was for Jacen to stumble backwards and that's exactly what he did.

"I wasn't bothering the lady!" Jacen snapped as he righted himself, not realizing how bad the situation look with him holding the hands of a teary eyed woman that had just been trying to brain him with a racket, "We're just working out a misunderstanding!"

"I'll show you a misunderstanding!" The surfer growled as he moved forward. The easy blow to Jacen had made the man cocky and it was all the S.W.A.T. officer could do not to roll his eyes as the man threw yet another punch that was as obvious as any could be. Side steppigng quickly he grabbed the assailants arm and pulled him forward, before throwing him over his shoulder. Surfer landed on his back hard enough to apparently knock the breath out of him while Jacen turned back around to Lily.

For a moment he just stood there silently as he tried to get over the shock he was still feeling. "Freak huh..."

She hit him with the racket maybe ten times, but it seemed her words were what really hurt him. Hurt him enough to pin her arms in mid air between them. Naturally she dropped her weight to try to leverage her wrists free from him. The effect was like a 2 year old pitching a fit and pulling away from mommy. It wasn't going to happen no matter how hard she wriggled. But she'd drawn blood and the uncertainty in his eyes meant she'd struck the deepest vein of all.

"How can you know?" Jacen hissed quietly, his eyes serious with just a trace of panic in them, "What makes you think I'm a mutant? I... I'm not doing anything!" Oh, now he wanted to be discrete. She rolled her eyes and pulled harder. She would show him. Oh, she would show him hard.

"And if I'm doing something to you, how come I can't feel it?" He looked at her suspiciously. "Because you're an idiot? How am I supposed to know?" Something seemed to catch Lori's eye, and even if it was the calvary it only made her roll her eyes harder because of who the calvary was. "Jacen, don't do this. You're hurting me."

"I told you to leave her alone!" When surfer dude spun Jacen around, Lori was yanked toward the two from his vice grip, but he seemed to forget about holding on when he got in an ugly haymaker to the face just because Jacen was busy struggling with her. Freed, Lori stepped away, rubbing at her wrists.

Jacen protested, rightly so, but he didn't understand the arsenal of the powerless. All Lori had to do was give Crawley sad eyes and he was making sloppy punches again. He thought he was rescuing a damsel in distress, not a viper.

The surfer went down with brutal, military efficiency. Even Lori was impressed. She wasn't even entirely sure how it happened, but her supposed savior was on the ground gasping and Jacen was back for shouting match, round two. Ding, ding! They were like old lovers out for revenge without the lovey-dovey bit first.

"Freak huh..."[/color]

Her tone was equally hushed and angry. "Yeah, well it takes one to know one." What sounded like yet another insult to Jacen was actually an admission of sorts. She bent down to pick up her dropped racket and went to stand over the surfer's shoulder. "If I needed a rescue, I would have called someone competent." She stepped over his body, making sure to step too close for comfort to a certain anatomical difference between herself and the man.

Lori walked through the spectators. They made enough room for at least six Lori's to walk past after her hysterical act, but most of the unfriendly eyes were for Jacen. Security was hustling over, but she shook her head at them.

"You missed the fight, boys. I'll escort myself out if you don't mind." The blood was on her racket after all. Once out of range, her statically charged hair sprung up again. Assuming Jacen didn't follow too closely, she planned to "taser" the next person who looked at her funny. She'd wait for Jacen in the parking lot. If he didn't nibble at that tidbit she graciously handed him, there really was no hope for that man.

"Yeah, well it takes one to know one." Lily spat out without the slightest hesitation. Moving over she picked up her dropped racket and then purposely walked over to give Mr. Surfer one last piece of her mind. "If I needed a rescue, I would have called someone competent."

It was only as Lily began to walk away that Jacen noticed the blood that was slowly dripping down the side of his face. "Damn!" He cursed under his breath as he turned back to his bag. Fishing out a towel he wiped the dripping blood off of his face and then applied pressure to the spot right above his eyebrow that was the 'cause of all this gore.

"You... you... get... out of... here..." Surfer tried to threaten as he continued to work on catching his breath.

"Oh be quiet." Jacen replied with the slightest bit of sympathy as he turned and began to walk toward the parking lot, following the same path that Lily had taken a few moments before.

"Sir, we're gonna have to ask you to leave." An official sounding voice sounded and as Jacen glanced over, he saw three security guards closing on him.

"I'm already on my way out... give my best to the winners." Jacen replied tiredly. It was amazing how when everyone got a certain idea about a person, it would affect basically all their actions toward that person. Even though person after person was giving him dirty looks they were also giving him a wide berth.

"A mutant..." Jacen thought to himself, still reeling from the very idea, "But... that would explain what happened in the bank. And with those three in the woods... if they were mutants that changed back because of me... it fits." Everything made sense but Jacen had to feel sorry for himself a little... all these mutants with these rather cool powers and he was going to be known as the walking off switch? Wonderful... frickin wonderful.

A few minutes later Jacen found himself out in the parking lot, away from all the curious spectators. There was still a security guard hanging out by the entry way, but he seemed to have no interest in actually following the combatants out into the parking lot. Glancing around Jacen spotted Lily and decided that he had better be a man about things... on principal at least.

"Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Jacen offered as he approached the woman, "Like I said... I had no idea I actually did anything."

"A mutant... how in the world did I end up a mutant?"