((Continued from Night Time Exercise & Contemplation))

That night had not exactly gone as planned. Not that her having too much energy to have been able to sleep was unforeseeable, that actually happened quite often of late. But her running into Jacen when she had been out for her run, that had been unexpected.

Even more so because of his powers. And how he could turn off her siphoning when she was near him.

After she had left Jacen in the park, a part of Lee had worried that her siphoning wouldn't turn back on because of how she hadn't felt any difference when he was standing one foot away or ten feet. That worry was actually surprising too, she had wanted rid of her siphoning, but when she couldn't run nearly as far or long as she had thought she should be able to....

Walking into the darkened apartment, locking the door behind her, Lee stiffled a yawn. Yet another thing that was surprising about that night. Lee hadn't thought that she'd be able to sleep that night, even with going for a run, but here she was walking in earlier than she expected to be, and yawning.

So kicking her shoes off, Lee jumped in the shower quickly, then ran to her room to throw on a pair of pyjama pants and a tshirt. Now dressed, Lee made her way into Tarin's bedroom, making sure to be quieter than she had been the rest of the time she'd been in the apartment. And then carefully, trying not to wake Tarin, Lee crawled into bed with him.

Tarin wasn’t a light sleeper. Especially after the amount of contact he’d just had with Lee. So Tarin was pretty much fast asleep the second she got up out of the bed, saying something about going to run. That always made Tarin happy, which made him laugh. To most men, a woman having to get up and take a jog to fall asleep after sex would have been something of a disappointment. Not with Lee though, Tarin took her getting up and going as a sort of a pat on the back.

He was fast asleep though, not even dreaming, which was a bit of a relief. Recently, the spirits had seemed to take the hint that his apartment was off limits, but there were still times when the nightmares were so vivid that sleeping was almost more exhausting than being awake. This wasn’t one of those nights, though. In fact, Tarin was sleeping so soundly that he didn’t even hear the door when Lee unlocked it, the shower turn on, or Lee moving around when she was done getting clean. It was only when she climbed into bed that Tarin stirred. Even then it was instinctual as he rolled over and draped an arm over her, checking the clock out of instinct so he could congratulate himself on another job well done. Huh? Um. Tarin picked his head up and squinted at the numbers on the alarm clock to make sure he’d seen the time he though. Yup.

“That was fast…” he said, a little less groggy than would have been usual if his brain wasn’t already going through the mental checklist to make sure everything had gone as it should have earlier in the night. Yup. At least all indications pointed to yup. “Is everything alright?”

As Lee crawled into the bed, Tarin rolled over and wrapped his arm around her. That was one of the first normal things to have happened that night; any time she crawled into bed with him, even if he was fast asleep, he seemed to roll over. It must have had something to do with how the bed moved.

Lee was just settling down into the bed, even more drowsy now that she felt Tarin's arm around her her, and was closing her eyes to try and sleep when she heard his voice.

A voice that was so much more awake and concerned than she would have expected for that time of night.

"I'm fine hun," Lee said, rolling onto her side and snuggling against Tarin. "Just a little tired. I ran into someone, apparently not siphoning is more tiring than I thought it could be..."

She said she was fine, and Tarin tightened his arm as Lee snuggled up against him. She kept talking though and Tarin said, “mmmm” then realized what Lee had said. “You what?” he said, pulling his arm from around her waist and sitting up in the bed.

Lee hadn’t been siphoning, the only time that had happened to date was when that exceedingly scary guy that Tarin had met as a spirit up on the ESB had shown up at their door, and Lee had spazzed that night. Why was she taking this so in stride.

“You were jogging? In the park? Nobody jumped you did they? Lee, I told you that whole running by yourself was a bad idea.” He reached to the bedside table and flipped on the light, anxiety obvious in his actions and voice, “You’re not hurt are you? “ he said, pulling the covers back and looking to make sure. It looked like Lee was okay…but that wasn’t necessarily an indication.

“What happened?”

It took a couple of moments, he still had to be half asleep, but then Tarin reacted, and when he did, boy was it a reaction. He was even sitting up in the bed, turning the light on, looking at her.

Rolling her eyes slightly, and sighing, Lee sat up as well then settled the blanket back over her lap after Tarin had pulled them aside to look her over. "I'm fine, Tarin," she said, again. "And yes, I went jogging in the park. That's where I go jogging.

"And you think running by myself is a bad idea? What, so you're going to come jogging with me?" The question wasn't meant harshly or in a mean tone, just...how was she supposed to not go jogging on her own when the reason she needed to was laying passed out in the bed?

"I'm fine, Tarin," Lee said again. "Really." Then Tarin asked what had happened when she had been out for her run. Well, what had happened, where was she supposed to start.

"I was running," Lee explained, trying to get more comfortable in the bed as she sat there. "Especially at night, I just kind of tune out and listen to my music until I feel someone near me." It was only after she said this that that bit of explanation probably wouldn't go over well.

"I only really tune out when there's no one there," Lee went on, backpedaling slightly. "When there's no one, I start feeling the siphoning when they're still...20...30 feet away.

"Jacen, though," Lee continued, her brow creasing ever so slightly as she tried to figure out how to explain this. On top of him being concerned about her out there running, Tarin tended to get upset and jealous about other men. "He's a mutant too, but his powers seem to nullify others'. So I didn't feel him until I, well, ran into him. Apparently not siphoning like that was more tiring than I would have thought."

If anything, Lee seemed frustrated with all the fussing Tarin was doing over her. She assured him that he was fine and rolled her eyes at him. Then Lee spoke and Tarin’s head jerked towards her, the words hadn’t necessarily been harsh or blatantly rude, but they were still condescending and he raised an eyebrow. A somewhat non-verbal really. “I guess I just shouldn’t be concerned…” he muttered, intending on shutting the light off and pouting to his pillow because Lee had been mean to him. Apparently, there was more to the story though.

It was weird, the way that Lee was telling the story, halting and going back and forth between things. Tarin just kind of looked at her as she explained. She completely tuned things out when she was running, if she was alone? He almost stopped her right there. That didn’t make any sense…none at all. Tarin knew, from the worst kind of personal experience, just how dangerous that park could be…and he had a feeling that there were things even worse than him out there. They’d apparently talk about that later though, because Lee wasn’t done with her story. She’d just gotten to the part where she met…Jacen? Oh, so she’d met some guy while she was running, then come home to snap at him. This story was getting better and better all the time. Oh…and the guy was a mutant…and she’d been around him long enough that not siphoning had affected her? If she couldn’t use her siphoning power, that had probably meant the speed and strength that made her so ‘invincible’ when she ran had been gone too.

Apparently the story was done now, and Tarin just sat there, looking at Lee for a minute. Then he blinked, and blinked again, reminding himself that getting angry at Lee for no reason had never, ever, worked out well for either of them. So instead, when he spoke, his voice was quiet and controlled, even if that wasn’t necessarily what he was feeling. “So…let me get this straight.” He said, “Knowing what sorts of things happen in that park at night you went running…ran into someone who negated your powers…which keep you safe from those things that happen in the park…so you spent more time around this person?” Calm…he was calm. The man had nothing to do with it, and wouldn’t unless Lee told him more that made it an issue…the fact of the matter was, she’d been so careless.

“Lee…apparently nothing happened…but did nothing about that situation set off any warning bells?”

Tarin didn't say anything while she was speaking, didn't interrupt her at all. That was kind of surprising, he had a bit of a habit of interrupting at times like these.

When she had finished speaking, Lee saw Tarin just blinking at her. Again and again. And he looked like he was struggling to stay calm. Really, what was the problem with her simply going for a run, even if she did meet another guy while she was doing it. Nothing had happened, after all.

When Tarin spoke, Lee knew that he was struggling to stay calm, and the line between her eyebrows deepened. That's what he was going on about, that's why he was worried?

Then thoughts of how Tarin had reacted not long after she had gotten back to New York, memories of a couple of news reports from about that time...Lee's eyes widened slightly as realization sunk in. Tarin had been uneasy about her going running a couple times before, because of things like that, but Lee was always so sure about being able to take care of herself; any time she was actually out running, she had more than enough energy to protect herself. But around Jacen...

Lee realized that must have been why she had had such a hard time running. Though she had still had energy, it was her powers that let her use her speed and strength, and must have also been her powers that had let her run for three hours at a time to get rid of energy.

"Actually, no Tarin, nothing did," Lee said, though her voice was much quieter than it had been. Thinking about it about how Tarin was, Lee knew that there was plenty to worry about in that, but the fact of the matter was that at the time other than the unease and strangeness of not siphoning, she hadn't felt anything wrong.

Lee seemed to get it, at least to a point, but something was still missing. She was so nonchalant about the whole thing. Something was clicking, but Lee wasn’t sharing. Tarin wanted to shake her. All the women that went running in Central Park thought that they were going to be safe. They thought that they were doing the right thing, and that they were going to be safe, but there was always someone out there who anticipated them and knew even better.

Lee spoke, and Tarin shut his eyes and shook his head slowly at her words, “Why?” was really all that he could say. This conversation was bringing up memories that Tarin had really buried deep, things that he hadn’t thought of in months. “SO you ran into some strange man in the park, who completely negated your powers…this didn’t bother you at all…even though he could have just drug you off into some dark patch of bushes and…and….” Tarin stopped when his voice cracked. He was shaking, “Lee…you don’t realize how…how…little you are…” he said, shaking his head again, still somewhat lost in the memories of the time that wasn’t really his.

“I drug off girls bigger than you…” He said, turning back to her, reaching out and gently grasping her by her shoulders “How can you be so...so…nonchalant” he exclaimed, “My god…you could be dead…and nothing about the situation set off any warning bells?”

Tarin felt sick, especially if he was honest with himself. It was an incredible situation, and the fact that Lee had found a person who could completely negate her powers hadn’t even wormed its way through the hysterics Tarin was experiencing over the fact that she’d been so vulnerable in the park and hadn’t even realized it.

The way that Tarin was describing how things could have been, what might have happened, yeah it sounded incredibly stupid what she had just done in the park.

It was really getting to him, though, Lee noticed as his voice broke while he was talking, and how he was stammering as he reminded her about how little she was. Like she really needed that reminder, even wearing heels she still had to look up an inch or so to Tarin, and he wasn't exactly the tallest guy in the city.

Next thing Lee knew, she was feeling Tarin's hands grasping her shoulders as he looked at her. As he said that he had drug off woman her were larger than she was. And that she could be dead because she had run into someone in the park.

Taking a deep breath, Lee shrugged Tarin's hands off her shoulders, then shifted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug and resting her head against his shoulder. "And I could be dead simply from walking into my apartment," she pointed out gently in a whisper.

"I ran into him because I wasn't really paying attention to what was around me," Lee said, her voice still soft. "I know, Tarin, not the best idea, but for me, every other time, it works. As soon as I feel myself start siphoning again, meaning someone's starting to get close, I snap to attention, figure out where they are, all that.

"But since I couldn't feel Jacen, I didn't see him until I was two steps away, and kind of just...ran into him." Yeah, cause that would go over better.

"And how can I be so nonchalant about it?" Lee asked, lifting her head to look at Tarin, but not removing her arms from around him. "Because nothing happened, Tarin. I did live on the streets for almost three years, you know, so I'm not nearly as naive as you think I am. And I can read people a bit. If you remember, I didn't like Rupert from the start, even though you assured me he could be trusted, and see where that ended up.

"Oh, and Jacen's a cop too," Lee said with a very slight laugh, leaning her head against Tarin's shoulder once more. "I know, it surprised me too, cause he actually seems like a truly decent guy."

Tarin was still shaking a little, the memories just under the surface of his carefully reigned emotions. Lee shrugged his hands off and Tarin was a little stung, then Lee moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tarin sat there for a moment then returned the gesture, wrapping his arms tightly around Lee, around his wife.

Lee spoke, and her words were soft and muffled by his shoulder, but Tarin still frowned, still pulled away slightly. As if he didn’t know. Tarin stiffened, as if he didn’t know how dangerous it was for Lee to simply be around him. She was still explaining though, and Tarin didn’t interrupt, he was too caught up in Lee’s original words. He was only half listening as Lee pointed out how naive she wasn’t from her time on the streets…how she’d been the one to distrust Rupert from the beginning.

Oh and Jacen was a cop and a decent guy. “Alright” Tarin said with emphasis, gently untangling Lee’s arms from around his waist and getting up to pace in the room before he really got angry. “Lee.” He said, stopping to face her, “Don’t act like I don’t know how dangerous it is for you to be around me. Why would you bring that up? And yeah, maybe my initial judgement on Rupert was wrong and he’s turned out to be anything other than a trustworthy friend…don’t forget though…he was the inside man in the camps, and I’d most likely be rotting away on death row if it wasn’t for him.”

Tarin paced again, trying to wrap his mind around Lee’s attitude on this subject, trying not to be irrationally angry about the situation, but failing miserably. “You just pointed out how dangerous I am…how can you fault him? Just because you’re biased doesn’t change the facts.”

Tarin almost laughed, then, his mind swinging back to what Lee had said about her new buddy, “Oh, and your initial perception of Jacen is so much better than mine of Rupert? And better yet, he’s a cop that can negate mutant powers. I’m glad you got to know him on such a personal level that you were able to tell what a great guy he is. Please Lee, enlighten me…what did he do to convince you of his virtues in such a short amount of time? Not dragging you off into the woods to do horrible things doesn’t count, either.”

Tarin was getting up and pacing now. At least he wasn't leaving the room, at least he wasn't that angry, but he wasn't hugging her any more, and that caused Lee's brow to furrow more. Instead of getting up to move to him, though, Lee just let him pace and simply shifted herself on the bed, looking up at him while she adjusted the blankets over her.

But all of this, all this over reaction, this almost anger from Tarin simply because she had run into someone in the park and had talked to him. Didn't he think, didn't he know, that she was capable of figuring things out for herself, able to take care of herself?

Maybe that was part of the whole problem, though. Tarin had told her on at least one occasion before this that even though she was able to, he didn't want her to have to protect herself, he thought he should be the one protecting her. But however much she might want him to be, Tarin couldn't be around all the time, so couldn't always protect her.

"Why bring that up?" Lee asked. Yeah, the simple fact that that he was questioning what she had said told her that he didn't understand. "Maybe to show you that I actually do care for my well-being, since you seem to think I don't. And yes, maybe it wasn't the best situation, but Tarin, I didn't see or feel anything that made me suspicious or worried, and I was already on edge from not siphoning.

"I'm not just some little girl who's just left mummy and daddy's house and doesn't know anything."

Lee took a deep breath and closed her eyes. This was definitely not going well, and by how Tarin kept going, it didn't look to be getting better any time soon.

"Enlighten you?" Lee asked, eyes opening once more to look at Tarin. Yeah, definitely not getting better soon. "What was it? I don't know, maybe a combination of everything. And since we're playing this game," Lee continued, her head cocked slightly as she looked up at Tarin. "How about you refresh my memory and remind me how it was that you convinced me to talk to you again after you tried looking up my skirt in the park?

"Or is that it?" Lee asked her voice growing slightly more accusing. "You just want me to go back to how I was, not talking to anyone, too worried to actually have any interactions with anyone other than you. Only, now that the Registration Act is gone, the worry turns into what people might do to me rather than being discovered. Is that it, Tarin?"

“You care about your well being and safety when it concerns me but not when you run into some stranger in the park?” Tarin said, eyebrows rising as he looked at Lee. “I’m sorry, that makes perfect sense. Not that you shouldn’t worry about me… we’ve been well over that…I’d just think you’d take the same caution with a perfect stranger. Especially if he was doing something to make your powers not work. Don’t get me wrong…I’m stoked that the guy turned out to be decent…otherwise it would be me getting a knock on the door tomorrow morning when you didn’t show up at home.”

Lee didn’t get it. She was taking everything too much at face value. Yes, he understood that not having her powers had put her off her guard. Yes, he understood that it was a strange situation to begin with. But Tarin knew…he knew what people were capable of. He was going to explain, then Lee kicked it up a notch.

Tarin’s jaw visibly dropped when she brought up the first time that they’d met. Man, she was cutting to the quick with that one. Instantly a bright red blush covered his cheeks and he stuttered slightly on his words as he tried to reply. Then he hung his head, shoulders slumping as he turned and walked to the door. Lee kept going though and he turned to look at her as she finished her little tirade.

“God Lee. You really think all those things about me?” he said, shaking his head slowly and looking at the wall, the bedside lamp, the mirror on the back of the closet door, anything but Lee. “After everything? You really think that?” His gaze dropped to the floor as he thought for a minute, then he looked up at her.

“Maybe I am overreacting Lee…but do you realize that sometimes when I’m sleeping I can still feel my hands around someone’s neck?” Tarin turned his head; he couldn’t look at her anymore, not while he talked about this. He stared at the wall more, “they were so terrified, and fought so hard…but the exhilaration Lee, it makes you so strong.”

He looked back up at her,“I know you can take care of yourself under normal circumstances, but if there are people out there who can negate your powers…what would have happened if he’d have grabbed you and tried to drag you off somewhere? Could you have stopped him?” He just looked at her there for a moment, let her think.

“You can sling mud at me all you want, and don’t think that didn’t hurt before. You bring up more than often enough what I creep I am. I just never knew how much you’d resent me for caring what happened to you if you were defenseless and by yourself and doing something stupid. I’ll make sure not to make the same mistake in the future.”

Tarin strode back towards the bed and snatched his pillow, “I think I’m going to go sleep on the couch.” He said, “I wouldn’t want to disconcert you with my creepy presence or anything and I’ve got to work tomorrow.”

That said, he turned and left the room, doing just as he’d said he would and tossing it on the couch before joining it and pulling the throw blanket from the back, down and over himself. He couldn’t sleep though, not with all the words and emotions rolling through his head, so he just laid there, staring at the blank TV.

Tarin wasn't listening. Well, he was hearing enough to get upset about what he heard, but he wasn't really listening, at least not to everything that she was saying. If he was, He had to have known that what she had said about her bringing up having to watch herself around him, her saying that she brought it up like that was to show that she did care about her own well-being meant all the time, not just regarding him. She was concerned other times, she just hadn't felt a solid reason to worry about that when she had been in the park with Jacen.

And Tarin wasn't hearing that, he was simply hearing that she didn't see a worry.

Her comment about the first time they met really struck a cord with Tarin, though. He even started stuttering and sputtering as he tried to figure out what to say. And he wasn't looking at her any more, but rather was looking everywhere in the room but her. Great.

But did she really think those things about Tarin? "I don't know," she admitted after a few moments. "What am I supposed to think, Tarin? You freak out any time I meet anyone, regardless of when or how I do it. You're happy that I went with my instincts, and decided to keep talking to you because I didn't think you were going to do anything more than that first look up my skirt, yet those same instincts, those same feelings, can't be trusted for anyone else? So honestly, I don't know what to think."

Finally though, Tarin turned to look at her. Not for long, but he did look at her before he averted his eyes once more. Maybe it was a good thing, though, since as he spoke, Lee felt her breathing hitch. How could he still feel that? He hadn't been in control, he only had partial memories of what had happened during that time. How could he still be remembering that?

"I know, Tarin," Lee whispered, her eyes also on the floor at this point. She'd never gone into great detail about her time in Toronto when she was younger, she didn't think either of them really wanted her to. Unfortunately, maybe this was the time. "Believe me, I know. I've been there before myself..."

But could she have stopped him, gotten away, if Jacen had had more sinister intentions than possibly winning a kiss, or if whoever she had run into had been someone other than Jacen? With her powers, Lee would have no doubt about it. But without her powers, that was harder to be sure of. The fact of the matter was, she had fought her way out of situations like that before. Yes, she had had her powers at the time, but she had needed to do it on a couple of occasions when she was younger. That experience, even if she didn't have her extra strength, had to give her some sort of advantage over most women. Right?

As Tarin continued speaking, though, Lee wasn't sure what to say. He actually thought that she had brought up their first meeting to hurt him? Sure, it probably hadn't been Tarin's greatest idea, but without him having tried to look up her skirt, they probably would have never met. Lee did not want to think about what that would have been like.

And then he was leaving. Lee simply blinked at Tarin as he grabbed his pillow off the bed and turned to leave the room. And was actually going to go sleep on the couch. He wasn't asking her to sleep in her own room that night, wasn't going to go sleep there himself, but he was going to go sleep on the couch.

How did all of this happen, Lee wondered as she sat there on the bed for a minute after Tarin had left the room. All she had tried to do was curl up with him so that she could sleep with her husband after going for a run. Something neither of them had actually expected to happen that night, but it was ruined simply because she had run into someone while she was on her run and she hadn't simply run from him because there was a possibility of something bad happening.

Throwing the blankets off to the side, Lee stood up and slowly walked out to the living room to see that, sure enough, Tarin was laying on the couch, the blanket there pulled down off the back of the couch and was now covering him. "Go crawl back in bed," Lee said as she approached, a note of command there while her voice remained soft. "If you're that upset, I'll go sleep in the other room."

Walking around the front of the couch, Lee knelt down on the floor in front of Tarin. "But I did, and still want to sleep with you tonight, Tarin. And I don't think you're a creep."

So Lee thought he was some kind of tyrant as well as being a creep. Just because he hadn’t liked it when people hit on her in front of him. Just because he hadn’t liked the guy Lee had dated when they’d been broken up. Just because he was upset at the fact that Lee had put herself in a dangerous situation. It hurt. It really did, and as Tarin laid on the couch and thought about what had just happened, he sighed. The night had been great…pretty much every night was great, as long as Lee managed to get some sleep now and then. Otherwise she ended up exhausted and that wasn’t good for anyone. How had they ended up where they were now?

Tarin heard the footsteps as they approached and he fought the urge to petulantly turn to face the back of the couch. Tarin didn’t want to look at Lee, not after the things that she’d said, not after the things he’d done. She knew about the dreams now, the feelings. But then, she was there, and bossing him around. And she thought he was a tyrant?

Tarin listened to the words, though and frowned slightly as Lee crouched down by him. “I thought you were mad at me.” He said, “You sure sounded mad.”

Tarin turned on the couch, sitting up and looking Lee in the eyes, slowly reaching out to touch her face, “I’m not trying to run your life Lee…and I don’t flip out over every person you meet. Just the ones you date…or who hit on you right in front of me…” he frowned, “If you’ll notice…the fact that you ran into a guy didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s just so terrifying to me that something could happen to you.”

Tarin sighed and dropped his hand, still looking at Lee, “You really don’t think I’m some kind of controlling tyrant…do you?” he said, groping around for Lee’s wrist and tugging her towards him on the couch.

“So this guy….” He said a few moments later, “He really could cancel out all your powers? Is it just an energy thing, or is it everyone?”

Tarin wasn't asleep. Well, Lee would have been honestly surprised if Tarin was actually asleep after the fight they'd had with how short a time he'd been out on the couch. But he wasn't pretending to be asleep either. Instead, he was frowning at her as she spoke.

Mad at him? That's why he had come to sleep on the couch? "A bit," Lee admitted with a slight shrug as she watched Tarin sitting up on the couch. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to sleep with you anyway."

Tarin kept speaking, explaining, his hand reaching out to her face. This was more like what she had been wanting, this kind of contact, not the fighting that had been going on in the bedroom, and Lee leaned into Tarin's hand.

Only to have him drop his hand away as he paused. And then he asked if she really thought he was some kind of tyrant. Right before he was pulling on her wrist gently.

That action caused Lee to give Tarin a much different answer than she might have otherwise. "Maybe a bit," Lee said as a teasing smile crossed her face. But rather than simply leaning closer to him with how she was crouching in front of the couch, Lee moved closer with Tarin's tugging on her wrist, moving up onto the couch herself, her legs draped across Tarin's lap. "I've seen worse, though."

This was much more like it, sitting there on the couch like this. Lee could only hope that they could just put that whole fight behind them, at least for the night. Wished that they could just sit there for a bit, cuddle for a while, then crawl back into bed. Together.

Apparently not to be, since not long after she had sat on the couch, he was asking about Jacen, asking more about how he had cancelled out her powers.

Nodding, Lee looked over at Tarin. "It's kind of weird, though," she said to him. "He said he can't feel it, doesn't know that he's even doing anything, but that he's run across other mutants who've had their powers nullified too. Though apparently it only started a few months ago, or at least that's when he realized it."