The Ranger turned the keys killing the engine to his '69 Dodge Charger painted up like the General Lee. He had driven to West 52nd street, to a place called The Vinyl. He had seen an ad in the newspaper about there being an open Mic and he decided that it would be good to relax for a night and play some guitar. He rolled down the window and slid out through it, since the doors are welded shut on the car, and after planting both feet on the ground he reached in and slid out a guitar case and then a black cowboy hat which he set on his head.

Having decided to play Stevie Ray Vaughn songs he brought with him a Fender Stratocaster to aid in recreating the sound. Holding the case in his right hand he turned to walk to the Vinyl, a short line of people to get in clearly visible. Seeing this line the Ranger was glad he had called ahead and talked to a fellow named Matt about getting in to perform. Matt had instructed him to come in the side door and he would go on when there was a gap in the music.

The Ranger made his way to the side door and pushed it open. The Vinyl seemed to be just big enough, there was a dance floor, stage, and a long bar. It only lacked sitting room, though if the place books good music than sitting is not necessary. Looking up to the bar the Ranger saw a 5'10" or so man who looked to be around his early thirties with brown hair and a medium build wave him over. The Ranger made his way over to the bar, trying not to bump into people dancing to the music that was being played by the people on stage, music that the Ranger was not exactly familiar with.

"Hey you Michael? The Ranger nodded "Okay good, you are on after them Texas boy."

The Ranger gave him a sort of half-assed salute to show he understood before moving away from the bar toward the stage, it sounded like the current group was finishing up. He quickly went over the song in his head, Tightrope. When the band finished they made their way off the stage and the Ranger stepped up onto it and after removing his guitar from the case and plugging it into the sound system he made his way to the microphone.

"Howdy there everyone, I'm Michael Hunter and this is the great Stevie Ray Vaughan's Tightrope." Stepping back from the Microphone for a second he began to play Tightrope.

"Caught up in a whirlwind can't catch my breath
Knee deep in hot water broke out in a cold sweat
Can't catch a turtle in this rat race
Feels like I'm losin' time at breakneck pace

Afraid of my own shadow in the face of grace
Heart full of darkness spotlight on my face
There was love all around me but I was lookin' for revenge
Thank God it never found me would have been the end

I was walkin' the tightrope steppin' on my friends
Walkin' the tightrope it was a shame and a sin
Walkin' the tightrope between wrong and right
Walkin' the tightrope both day and night

Lookin' back in front of me in the mirror's a grin
Through the eyes of love I see I'm really lookin' at a friend
We've all had our problems that's the way life is
My heart goeso ut to other who are there to make amends

We've been walkin' the tightrop tryin' to make it right
Walkin' the tightrope every day and every night
Walkin' the tightrope bring it all around
Walkin' the tightrope from the lost and found
Walkin' the tightrope stretched around the world
Walkin' the tightrope save the boys and girls
Walkin' the tightrope let's make it right
Walkin' the tightrope do it do it tonight
Walkin' the tightrope"

Things had still been weird, but at least things had been getting better. Getting better, even if she did still have to go talk to a doctor at the Labs every week. Lee couldn't exactly say that she enjoyed these sessions, she did have to admit that they seemed to be helping.

But one thing that Dr Rossi had suggested that Lee was finding at least somewhat useful was writing. Not that she needed to show it to anyone if she didn't want to, but she was supposed to write about what she had been feeling.

And this had actually ended up resulting in her writing a song over the past few weeks, something Lee had never really done before. Sure, she'd written the music before, written bits of lyrics here and there, but never an actual, full song before then.

Lee wanted to share it with Tarin, but was too worried about how it would sound to play it for him. She needed to try it out first, but wasn't sure how.

And then Lee remembered that the bar normally did an open mic thing. The only problem would be how to get there without Tarin. She knew she couldn't bring her guitar, that would just peak her husband's curiosity about what she was doing, but she might be able to get out of the apartment, if she said she was just going for a walk. Hopefully she'd be able to have Matt find a guitar for her to use.

Since she was just 'going for a walk', though, Lee wasn't wearing what she normally did when she went to the bar. Instead that night she was wearing just simple black skirt that came to a couple inches above her knees, a deep red tank top, and a pair of black heels.

Slowing down as she approached the door to the bar, Lee took a deep breath. She hadn't exactly been here without Tarin before, and on top of that she was nervous about singing. But at least the bouncers seemed to recognize her on her own, it wasn't just Tarin any more; walking up to the door, completely bypassing the small line that had formed, Lee was greeted by a nod from the bouncer and let right in.

Glancing around once she got inside, she saw that they were between songs. Not only that, she noticed with a bit of a closer look as she made her way toward the bar, they were between performers. Well, that looked good for her getting up on stage.

As she reached the bar, the man on stage started to sing, and Lee's eyes shot to him. She knew that accent; not the voice, but the accent she knew. And the man who was singing was wearing a cowboy hat. Huh. That was definitely something she hadn't been expecting. Maybe it had something to do with the accent itself, and not just the fact that it was Tarin's voice when he brought it out.

Huh.

"Well, well, well. So you finally decided to leave him?"

Lee jumped as she heard the familiar voice, then turned to see Matt standing there smiling across the bar from her. "No, not yet," Lee replied, returning the bartender's smile as she. "But I am here to spend the evening with you.

"Who's that?" Lee asked after a moment or two, nodding up to the stage as she song ended. "He's good."

As he finished the song he turned down the volume on his guitar to fade out the sound the crowd applauded. Lifting the strap on the guitar to take it off he leaned into the mic, "Thank you, yall're too kind!" He said before moving to exit the stage, unplugging his guitar as he stepped off. Moving to the his guitar case he lay the Stratocasted down inside it. After locking in the clamps on it he lifted it up and made his way to the bar to thank Matt for the chance to play.

Approaching where Matt was standing, across the bar, the Ranger leaned the guitar case against the bar. He noticed that Matt was presently having a dialogue with a young lady. He waited for a break in their conversation before chiming in. "Evening ma'am" The Ranger began in an apologetic manner since he was interrupting their conversation, and as he said it he brought his hand up and grabbed the top of his hat, lifting it for a moment while he spoke and then setting it back on his head before turning to Matt and addressing him. "Thanks for the chance to play here tonight Matt." Holding out his hand to shake the bartender's hand.

This guy definitely had a Texas accent, Lee noticed as he thanked the crowd. A fairly strong one, too. Lee hadn't realized before then that it was the accent itself that was attractive to her, not just because it was coming from Tarin's lips. Though, when they had been in Texas, Tarin had been right there with her 99% of the time, and most of the people they had been around had been his family. Much different.

Yeah, apparently Lee was a tad distracted, because she didn't even catch everything that Matt was saying to her across the bar about the man that had been on stage. Realizing this, Lee turned her full attention consciously on the bartender in time to catch the tail end of what he had been saying.

"...really wanted to get up there, it seems. He called ahead to make sure there'd be room for him and everything.

"But, what'll be tonight? Just a beer, or are we breaking into the heavier stuff?" Matt asked, leaning forward, elbows resting on the bar in front of him so he'd be that bit closer to Lee.

Lee shook her head, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips. Before she was actually able to give Matt an answer, though, and instead ask for a Coke, she heard another voice beside her. Lee hadn't realized that there was someone that close to her, her siphoning was pretty much useless in a bar with this many people so she didn't even bother focusing on it.

Turning her head, Lee saw the very same man who had been singing on stage just moments earlier, now tipping his hat to her and apologizing for interrupting her and Matt. Now that was something you didn't see everyday in New York. Well, at least not outside hers and Tarin's apartment.

But that done, the man was turning toward Matt, extending his hand as he thanked the bartender for letting him play. "Well, Matt would have been a fool to not have let you," Lee stated, jumping into the conversation, giving Matt a smile to show him that she was just teasing. "You were really good up there."

Matt reached out and returned the handshake, responding to the Ranger with, "Hey, it is an open mic and it's not everynight someone comes in here with some southern electric blues." At that the Ranger smiled and pulled his hand back. Then the woman he was now standing next to and had interrupted spoke up.

"Well, Matt would have been a fool to not have let you, You were really good up there."

He turned to face her. "Thank you ma'am. Although I must say that it has been a while since I have played before an audience, and never has the audience been Yankees. Needless to say I wasn't sure how I'd be received." The Ranger replied to the lady at the bar. Then he realized he had yet to personally introduce himself. "Oh, how rude of me. My name Is Michael, I know I said it up there but that is a tad unpersonal."

The Ranger then reached up and popped out one of the earplugs he had in before asking the woman her name. The earplugs were the same what he would wear when shooting and he figured that they would work well for when on stage, but they did add difficulty to making out what people were saying. "And what is your name miss?"

If this was the kind of artist that the bar drew in on its open mic nights, maybe her and Tarin would have to come out more and actually pay attention to the music. This guy had been rather good, after all.

Then he turned and introduced himself to her. Only for him to pop out an earplug a moment later before asking for her name. "Lee," she said simply, extending her hand for Ranger to shake. "Nice to meet you.

"And I don't know about you," Lee continued, an easy smile on her face as she talked with the man standing beside her at the bar while music started up in the background again. "But I've always found performing to be nerve wracking, regardless of how often I'm doing it."

Taking a breath, Lee then turned to look at Matt again, a small twinkle coming into her eye as she hoped that he'd be able to help her out. "Speaking of which, Matt," she said, leaning on the bar. "Do you think you can find a guitar I could use? I was hoping to try out a song tonight."

Matt simply looked across at Lee for a moment. "I'll see what I can do, Lee."

"Nice to meet you too, Lee" He replied as he reached forward to meet her in hand in the handshake. Following that he pulled his hand back and listened to Lee describe her performing and the nervousness associated with it. "Oh yes, back when I played more often I was always nervous to some degree. Heck, it sometimes seems like getting on stage is more nerve racking than being in a combat zone" He stated and then after a moment added, "I used to be in the military."

When Lee turned to Matt and inquired as to if he could procure for her a guitar the Ranger reached for his Stratocaster leaning against the bar and holding it by the neck held it out to Lee. "Here, use mine. She's a good guitar and so long as you don't go all Hendrix at Woodstock and light 'er on fire it'll be fine." He smiled to aid in assuring Lee that it really was fine to use his guitar since normally people are a little less forthcoming with their instruments, especially with those they only just met.

"One thing is you may want to turn the overdrive on it down since I had it cranked way up for Tightrope, unless you are wanting that sound in which case by all means leave it"

Lee blinked when Michael said that performing on stage was more nerve wracking than being in a combat zone. Oh great, how did she end up getting involved in people likje this all the time? Especially when they seemed decent at first like this?

Then he said that he was ex military, and the slight tension that had been building in Lee's body relaxed. And the US did have a much bigger military than Canada, so there would be many more ex-military.

Matt said that he'd see what he could do about finding a guitar for her to use, and Lee shot a large grin in his direction.

Only to be surprised to hear Michael's voice beside her saying that she could use his guitar. Lee blinked in surprise before slowly turning her head to look at him. "Really?" Lee asked, a bit of a smile starting to spread across her face again as the surprise faded.

She hadn't exactly had a lot of experience with electric guitars, only when messing around a bit in music stores, but Lee thought that she'd be able to figure it out well enough. "That would be great. Thank you."

Then Lee turned to look at Matt. "How long before I can get up there?"

Lee saw Matt give a slight shrug. "Not sure, but it shouldn't take too long. I'll ask someone to go check."

"Don't mention it, it would be rather unmannerly to sit here with a guitar and not offer it to a lady in need of it." The Ranger stated in a manner conveying his honest belief in the courtesy. And when Lee asked how long before she goes on he leaned the guitar up against the bar next to her so she could grab it and go when it was time.

"Hey, Matt when you have a moment can I get a Miller Lite?" The Ranger asked as he pulled out a twenty and his military I.D and set them down on the bar. "Keep the change."

"You got it cowboy."

"So what kind of song are you going to sing?" The Ranger asked in a genuine interest as he leaned slightly against the bar turning back to face Lee as Matt delivered the beer. Following which the Ranger returned his I.D to his wallet and took a sip of the beer.

"Thanks," Lee said, her smile growing as she saw the man moving the guitar closer to her.

This proved that the extreme good manners were a result of her husband's Texas upbringing more so than just how Mrs. Brooks had raised her sons. She had just met Michael, and yet he was willing to let her use his guitar to sing a song.

"Can you grab me a Coke while you're at it?" Lee asked as she watched Matt turning to grab Michael's beer.

"So what kind of song are you going to sing?"

To this, Lee glanced down at the surface of the bar, so she saw when Matt set down the glass of Coke in front of her. "It's actually something I wrote," Lee said. This was why she was doing this here, she didn't want to make a fool of herself, well, at least not in front of anyone she knew. Well, she knew Matt, but she'd made a fool of herself in front of him a number of times.

Lifting the glass, Lee took a sip then looked back up at Michael. "I'm really not sure whether it's any good, to be honest," Lee admitted.

"You're up next, Lee," Lee heard Matt say, and glanced up to see him stopping in front of her on the other side of the bar again. "Let's see what you've got, and I'll have a beer waiting for when you finish."

"Thanks Matt, but no beer. I'm on a 'walk' so I can spend the night with you, remember?" Lee said, giving the bartender a wink. Then she took a deep breath before grabbing her borrowed guitar and making her way to the stage.

It didn't take her too long to get up there and all set up. Maybe a bit longer than some of the others had taken since she wasn't used to using an electric guitar, but before long she was all set and standing nervously in front of the microphone.

And then she just stood there. Lee thought about saying something, introducing what she was going to play, but wasn't sure exactly how. So after a moment, she just started playing.

Then stopped and fiddled with the dials on the guitar. "Sorry about this," she said into the mic slightly embarrassed. "I'm used to playing acoustic. But this is a song I wrote."

Taking a deep breath, Lee tried again, starting a slow strumming. It was a slower song, though with a definite rock tone that probably would have been more noticeable had there been a drum to go along with it.

And then she started singing.

Darkness falls
Over my eyes.
Feel so alone,
Though I know you're there.
Dawn will come,
But I don't know when.
The night feels so long.

I feel your arms around me,
Holding me tight,
Keeping me here,
Safe from the tide trying to pull me under....


By the time she finished the song, Lee's eyes were closed. It hadn't gone as bad as she had feared, and it hadn't sounded nearly as bad as she thought it might have. But still, Lee wasn't entirely sure how good it had gone, and she wasn't sure she wanted to look at the crowd.

So instead, Lee simply unhooked the guitar and left the stage, heading back toward the bar.

"I'm really not sure whether it's any good, to be honest."

Upon hearing this the Ranger immediately responded in a pep talk fashion. "Don't be talkin' like that. If you go up there thinkin' it ain't gonna be good than that's how you'll play. Just have some confidence and have fun with it!"

Right at the closing of his little speech Matt jumped in and informed Lee that she would be next. And as Lee was grabbing up the guitar the Ranger called out over the noise in the bar, "Good luck!" He then turned to face the stage.

Before long Lee had taken the stage and was getting all set up. Based on the small trouble that she was having the Ranger surmised that she was used to playing unplugged not on an electric. And as she is about to start playing he notices the overdrive is still turned up, he moves to say something but stops since she would be unable to hear him anyway. Following the short mess up and the swift correction she affirmed his assumption by admitting she is used to acoustic.

The Ranger enjoyed the song, he has always been a fan of slower sounding songs in both rock and country genres. If fact, he had considered playing a slower acoustic song himself but decided against it in favor of a faster song for his first time. And when the song finished the Ranger started clapping, albeit a little more than he would have if he had not met her prior to the performance, but still with a genuine approval of her performance.

It was only as she was getting close to the bar again that Lee actually let herself take a look at how people were reacting to her song. Michael was clapping, still, and Matt was looking at her with a strange expression on his face.

Stopping where she had been standing at the bar before she'd gone up on stage, Lee held the guitar out to Michael. "Thanks for letting me borrow it," she said sincerely, a small smile coming back to her face now that she wasn't in the spotlight as the centre of attention any more. "It wouldn't have sounded right if I'd just sang, without a guitar."

"Damn, Lee. You never told me you could sing like that."

Looking over at the bartender, Lee saw the strange expression still there, but now that she was looking, she could making out a couple of emotions that were making up the look. Was Matt actually in love with her? If that was the case, Lee thought that her little performance might have just added to it.

"So it was good?" Lee asked, a hint of a blush coming to her cheeks as she let her eyes flick between the two men standing near her, one on either side of the bar. "I've never actually written an entire song before, so I really wasn't sure."

"My pleasure, Lee." The Ranger replied to Lee's thanks before turning and placing the guitar back in it's case that still leaned against the bar. The Ranger then took then sipped a little on his beer before Lee asked if her song good.

"Yes ma'am it was. And it was a little more to my taste toward music than what most people have been playing in here to boot. I had originally wanted to play something unplugged but decided against it for my first time in front of, to me, an alien audience." The Ranger then heard the next performer starting his act so he raised his voice to still be heard. "The fact you wrote it yourself also makes it all the better, whenever I have tried to write a song it has always been a pile. And your song was very good."

The Ranger then drank some more from his beer, leaving it around half full now. "So where are you from Lee?" He asked since she didn't sound like a Yank, and many people here in this city seemed to have come from all over the place.

As Michael was putting the guitar back in its case, Lee started to hear calling, growing louder, from further down the bar. Apparently Matt wasn't doing his normal, great job bartending tonight. Not that Matt seemed all that concerned about that fact as he stood there on the other side of the bar.

But a moment later, the calling grew to a point that he couldn't even pretend to ignore it any more.

"You're damn right it was good," Matt said as he started to turn away. "Just you wait. One of these days I'll steal you away."

"Maybe one day, Matt!" Lee called after the retreating bartender, giving him a wink when he turned to look back at her.

Which left her at the bar with Michael, who was complimenting her on her performance. More so because she had written the song herself. A slight blush fading across her cheeks, Lee took her glass of Coke. "Thanks," Lee said. She didn't really know what to say. She hadn't really expected this kind of input about her song, merely a general reaction from the crowd and maybe a couple of words from Matt.

But at least Lee was spared from trying to figure out what else to say because Michael went on to ask where she was from. Well, that was an easy question, easily answered with a vague response that would give enough without sounding evasive.

"I grew up an hour or two north of Toronto," Lee said, turning to look at Michael again. Then decided to be a little more descriptive since most Americans she had met weren't all that well versed in the geography of their northern neighbours. "In Canada. What about you? What brings you up out of Texas?"

The Ranger assumed that she had made a point of explaining where Toronto is because many Americans seem to not know where anything is on a map. "I know where Toronto is, my work in the military required me to have a pretty solid knowledge of geography. Both political and geological maps." He explained, then answering her question, "I moved up here shortly after getting out of the service. I figured I could make use of my skills from being in some of the more elite military units to aid in this city's law enforcement. I had heard it had issues with both human and mutant crime as well as having places that were accepting of mutants."

The Ranger lifted his beer and took a drink from it, thinking back on his experiences in New York these past few months. He had dealt with a Russian terrorist twice, been involved with a mutant brawl, and had failed in an attempt to foil a bank robbery. Those along with many small, low importance crimes. Setting the beer back down on the bar he asked Lee a naturally following question, "Why did you come here from Canada?"