There were two big days that always were tough for the Tori family now. Fathers' Day affected them all, from Kendra who had lost her husband and love, to the twins who never had a dad and always gave there daycare and preschool projects to Locke. The absence of Dad always hurt Locke more than the absence of his mother, because he had had his Dad all those years. At least Locke knew and understood how Father's Day could be less painful for Chris and Mai than it was for him. His Mother's Day was like Fathers' Day to them. It's hard to entirely miss something you don't know or remember. How hard must it be for the twins now that he wasn't there to get excited over a brick of toast and a tinfoil Popsicle stick creation? Guilt. Major guilt.

The second big bad day changed the day number from year to year, just like the first major one did, but it was bad for the rest of the Tori family because it was a black one for Locke. Even his friend who on a regular basis liked to ignore the concept of personal space didn't want to approach him on the opening day of the baseball season. The only reason why this day that was not set in stone squeaked ahead of the day of the accident was it served as an additional reminder to Locke while the twins got psyched about their upcoming birthday. It was something personal, but bad enough to bring about sadness for them all in some measure. Nobody knew quite why it bothered him, nor did they bother to ask, which made things all the more worse.

Maybe it had been the guilt over missing Fathers' Day and forcing his little brother and sister to spend the holiday with no male parental figure that made Locke dig out the business card. Maybe it was homesickness and regret that he'd miss the big sixth birthday. Or maybe it was just that Locke was afraid of what he was going to do left on his own for another baseball season where he'd watch the games on TV and try and convince himself that it was just as good, if not better than actually being in the stands. Since the New Year he kept surprising himself with the lack of sense his actions had. Traveling across country to follow a stranger to a school, taking on Cthulu, running into a gunfight... Locke didn't think he was the type to try to hurt himself, but his past actions were scaring him.

He was alone for the opening game anyways. It took a few days before he finally plucked the business card off the mirror. Then a few more before he carried that card to a phone and called the number for a medium.

"Uh Tarin?" he mumbled and stumbled, trying to think of how to phrase this want that he had but couldn't explain, the need he had, "I uh.. this is Locke, and um.... I kind of need something...." The person on the other side of the phone line made a noise of recognition at the name, and Locke reminded himself that the man had said that if he needed help to call. He wondered briefly if Tarin could hear Dad, if Dad had stuck around at all. Usually ghosts left didn't they? "Do you want to go to a baseball game?" the words came gushing out, almost as awkward as the one time he had tried asking a girl out on a date on his own. Weird.

""Baseball? Uh....sure kid. When? Everything okay?" There it was again. Tarin showing as much concern as his own father had. When was the last time someone his step-mother wasn't forking cash over to asked him that question around this time of year and actually cared what he said in response to it?

"Steady as an earthquake," Locke told him. He rapidly a babbled something about earthquakes having a steady pulse to them before the adult could take it as him being shaken. After all Locke had to retain some level of manlyness.



But that was in the past, and now as Locke stood outside the Yankee Stadium, two tickets clutched tighter in his fist then even a diamond Fluffy could, he felt cold sweat trickle down his temples that had nothing to do with the unseasonably warm weather. Kendra had been more then willing to provide him with the funds for the tickets when he told her that he wanted to take a friend to see a game, though he wondered if she had mistaken the name Tarin for a girl's. It was hard to tell if he felt more afraid that Tarin wouldn't show up or that he was actually going to be a more active part of something he'd love but hadn't really indulged with in a long time. Maybe I should just sell the tickets to a scalper and get out of here before Tarin sees me, if he's coming at all.

Tarin had been surprised when his phone had rang. Not a whole lot of people called him on the cell outside of Lee, Slate, and anyone else dealing with Kabal business. He had all those numbers programmed in. This one had been unknown and he’d almost not answered. Now, he was glad he had.

Truth be told, the Medium hadn’t expected to hear back from the teen who had so randomly ended up in the shop. That had been a jarring experience, helping the boy reconnect with a father who had died without a lot of things being said. The man had left with his son and Tarin wondered if he was still hanging around. It seemed like he’d be able to find out too, because Locke had asked him to go to a baseball game.

It was a slightly strange request considering the fact that they’d only known each other in a very brief sense. Tarin was glad there wasn’t anything wrong, though, and when he explained the situation to Lee she quickly agreed that going to the game would be a great idea.

So, here Tarin found himself, walking up to Yankee Stadium and looking for Locke. He felt a little awkward, but the kid had asked and Tarin truly was honored to oblige. Scanning the crowds was a little difficult though, especially for someone like Locke who seemed to want to fade into the background. Finally, Tarin’s eyes fell on the kid and he made his way in that direction.

”Hey kiddo.” Tarin said on his approach, checking the watch Lee had given him for their anniversary and a half, ”Do we need to get tickets, or what do I owe you?”

There was a click of something in Locke, a part that suddenly eased up when Tarin headed over. It didn’t mean that the teen was entirely happy about, one, having to ask someone to do something with him, and two, being in a place where he had meant to go with his dad, but in ways it was much better than simply sitting back at the school and getting crushed on all sides by guilt, homesickness, loneliness, and grief. Still Locke would have felt much more secure in the large crowed if he had been able to bring his backpack full of rocks with him. It was rather stressful to feel all those people walking about and Locke wanted something that he knew he could loose himself in should things get to be too much. Although Tarin had clearly spotted him and was making his way there Locke still raised a hand to signal where he was. When the medium finally got there Locke lifted is baseball cap, one with a cartoon hornet, off his head, adjusted his hair and set it back into place.

“Here,” he said, giving Tarin one of the tickets. It wasn’t anything epic like field seats or even a seat in the main row, but at least he didn’t get obstructed seats, and the Grandstand is nothing to sneeze at. “Compliments of Kendra. Consider it a down payment for last time.” He was of course referring to how Tarin had refused to accept his money. Locke didn’t know how much was usually charged for that bit of mojo, but the ticket had to cover at least a portion of it.

Tarin’s question about the tickets was answered as soon as he came up even with Locke. The teen held out the ticket, and Tarin took it. The name Locke threw out didn’t ring any immediate bells, but it became obvious that whoever it was had funded this outing. Tarin frowned a little and clicked his tongue

”I already told you kind, you didn’t have to go and diminish the good karma I built up that day.” He grinned all the same, ”Thanks though. Really. I’ve been meaning to get to a game since I moved here and never have. I’m glad you called me.”

Into the stadium they went, small talking their way through the crowds and concourses. The food here at Yankee’s Stadium looked excellent, and Tarin picked out a few choice places he’d definitely be headed once they’d figured out where they were sitting.

That didn’t take too long, and while the seats weren’t dug out, or field level, they were still good. Tarin had a feeling that any seats in this stadium were good, though. He hadn’t been able to go to many games as a kid, but he’d played baseball religiously until his powers had manifested. Baseball was still in his blood. He and Locke settled into the seats.

”So are you a Yankee’s fan?” he asked, ”I noticed your hat doesn’t have either team’s mascot on it.”

“Step-mother,” Locke explained when Tarin looked confused. There was no soft or fuzzy emotions attached to the word because he had no real feelings towards her. At least not very positive ones. Instead he would rather talk about his little brother and sister, which was an endless topic for Locke. With caution he asked how Tarin’s wife was doing, and gave congratulations when Tarin said that they had celebrated an anniversary. He could say that honestly, though it felt a little unorthodox to wish it. His mom and dad might have had some anniversaries while she was still a part of his life, but he was too young to really understand what was going on. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas was the extent of well wishes he ever gave Kendra. Maybe it was Locke wanting to have someone wish him congrats for a successful marriage, or even for a relationship with a girl. So far he’d made himself an idiot to every girl he’d run across in New York, but Tarin didn’t need to know that, just like he didn’t need to be reminded that Locke didn’t believe in Karma. The taboo topic of Dad was remaining off limits, and unlike last time, nothing was making Locke crash.

“It’s been forever since I’ve actually been to a game,” Locke confessed. More then five years since a major league game, and even longer since he had played in one. Of course he still would watch games on TV, and he followed his high school team’s progress, but that was entirely different than being here. The stadium was, to say the least, impressive. Scratch that. Impressive was an understatement. Tarin asked if he was a fan of the Yankees. “I guess. It all depends on who’s playing. Really I don’t have a favorite. It’s just illogical to only follow one team, because you miss out on some really great games.” Locke noticed that Tarin had looked at his hat. “My high school team. If you don’t show at least some interest in a sport and support the alma mater you’re toast.”

Locke pointed out that it had been a long time since he’d been to a game, and Tarin nodded in agreement, ”It’s been longer than forever for me. I don’t even remember the last time I was at a Major League game.”

Tarin was surprised by the answer to his question about favorite teams. Everyone had a favorite team! Tarin thought for a moment, though, and came up with nothing. Apparently he was wrong. Not everyone had a favorite team. Locke made a good point, though, ”Ahh, so you’re a baseball purist then. Nothing wrong with that.”

The hat was from his high school team. Apparently they were hornets or some kind of similar stinging insect. Locke commented on high school and ‘the way things worked’ and Tarin chuckled.

”Ah…I remember high school. The jocks all stood in line for a chance to knock the shit out of me. See, where I grew up, mutants were rarely heard of and even more rarely seen. They just thought I was crazy. ” Tarin said as the commentator announced that it was time for the national anthem.

They all rose and put their hands over their hearts as a twelve year old girl, winner of a contest from some NYC Middle School association started to sing. It was beautiful.

Locke joined the masses in standing and singing of the national anthem, though he mostly mumbled the words. Oh he knew the words, and the teen had a decent singing voice, but even expressing national pride with a crowd had its embaressments. What Locke was really doing while he mumbled and half hummed along was watching and listening to others. He would guess that at least sixty-five percent of the people there that were singing didn't have the foggiest idea what the lyrics were, let alone the meaning behind them. It was almost comical how the more loudly and proudly someone sang, the less they actually knew.

"I don't know what would have happened if anyone had known that I'm a mutant," he admitted. There was enough weird stuff about him without being a mutant that could provide any bully with a year's worth of tormenting material. "Only Kendra knew, and she didn't want to talk about it at all. Maybe she thought that not talking about it meant that it wasn't real"

”My Mom knew.” Tarin said as the regained their seats and waited for the game to start. ”It was hard for her though, knowing I could see what I could see. I was really very young.”

The first pitch crossed the plate, strike. ”The doctors either didn’t believe me or didn’t really want to help a mutant. I could make them solid for a long time.”

”I don’t think…Kendra, Is that your step mom? Anyway, she probably didn’t know how to deal with what was happening. I’m not saying she was right…but you’re probably right. She was alone with three kids, and one who needed special help that she couldn’t give.”

The conversation was starting to wax on depressing, and Tarin turned is attention back to Locke as the game continued through the top of the first inning.

”Is that why you came to New York? Where are you living now?” he asked, then caught the eye of the hot dog guy and gave a nod of the head that brought the guy in their direction.

”You want one? It’s the least I can do after you got the tickets.”

“I guess I got off pretty lucky then,” Locke said, temporarily caught up in the game. TV could never quite catch the great control of the players, from the way that the pitcher kept the energy needed to throw the perfect strike tightly bundled until it exploded out from their arm like a cannon, to the sharp twist of the batter’s body. The level of precision was astounding. “Mine wasn’t all big and flashy. I didn’t have lighting shooting out of my fingertips. Yeah, I could sort of ‘see’ things that I shouldn’t have, but thanks to that whole thing about your other senses kicking in… it wasn’t any concern to anyone.”

He let out a heavy sigh and put his elbows on his legs, half in a trance. “Then there was this earthquake. They happen a lot more then news will report, especially if nobody dies. You ever go swimming in the ocean or in a wave pool? You know how you can feel the waves pulling at you hours later? Before the quake even really hit I could feel it, like those phantom waves. I pulled my little brother and sister to safety and it hit us. Some plaster fell from the ceiling. That was when I started saying ‘Just one more day’. That’s why I’m here.”

Hot dogs were approaching, and Tarin asked if he wanted one, as compensation for the tickets. Nobody really knows what’s in a hot dog, and that probably was for the best. Chris and Mai loved them, so Locke had eaten so many in the last five years he was close to swearing them off forever, but there was just something about the atmosphere that made the mysterious cased meat sound like a five star restaurant’s cuisine. “With the works?”

Tarin shrugged when Locke said he supposed he’d gotten off easy in the grand scheme of things. None of them had easy lives, growing up as mutants in a world that simply wasn’t quite ready to accept them. He shook his head, ” Growing up isn’t easy for anyone, throw in one more thing to make you feel like even more of a freak and it gets worse.”

Locke explained the way his powers had come on and Tarin nodded his head, the teen made it sound like it hadn’t been a big deal. Tarin knew better, though, finding out you could do things that “normal” people couldn’t wasn’t easy in any sense of the word. It was frustrating, and alienating, and simply not all that much fun. Maybe it would be one day…if him and Lee ended up having kids, it would be. He turned back to Locke and watched him drop his elbows onto his knees. Poor kid.

”You’ll find your niche. Don’t worry. It might take a while though, so you can’t get impatient about it. Mine took me 15 years and a perverted mind to find.” he paused and looked at Locke, ”I’m very lucky man.” And he was, Tarin glanced at the watch on his wrist and grinned…very lucky.

Locke’s powers sounded interesting, like most of the powers Tarin had heard of that didn’t make his skin crawl. ”So you can actually control the ground? That’s pretty freakin’ sweet, kid. You could literally rock a girl’s world.” The Medium pondered that for a moment, a smile spreading across his features. ”Awesome.”

Locke agreed to the hotdog and Tarin grinned, throwing up two fingers to signal to the man that he wanted two of the dogs. Through a series of complex and interesting gestures, the toppings requests made it back and forth, money changed hands and within moments the two men sat with their hot dogs. Locke had gotten “the works” whatever that was and Tarin had settled for ketchup, mustard, kraut, and pickle relish. He took a bite.

”Man…that’s one thing New York has on the rest of the country…the hotdogs here are fantastic. You been many other places?”

Somehow, Locke wasn’t sure how, the conversation had gone from talking about his mutation and hot dogs to girls. Up to this point the closest the conversation had gotten to the female of the species was brief mentions to Tarin’s wife, Locke’s step-mother, and his little sister. Ok, so the whole trying to fit in was something that they had touched base on, but that wasn’t the thing with girls. Well it was, but Locke hadn’t brought it up, and he was fine not talking about his spectacular failures to have a conversation with someone between the age of fifteen and twenty something of the opposite gender. He practically choked on his hot dog when Tarin said he could rock a girl’s world. He could only rock a cradle. “You’re joking right?” The Californian shook his head. “I had a girlfriend for like… a week, and that was only because my friend set us up. If we’re going with the cliché baseball terms, I strike out every time I get up to the plate… no wait, I’m just a bench warmer.”

That glazed expression took over Locke face as he watched the game, slapping a palm on his leg when there was a hard and solid hit. It gave him time to think about the whole love and teenage girl thing. “Besides, that whole relationship thing doesn’t seem to work out too well for my family. Someone always ends up… First my mom and then Dad. I mean she has to be dead. Dad loved her too much for them to have gotten a divorce.” He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his seat to munch on the dog. “So I guess that even if I could open my mouth in front of a girl it wouldn’t make a difference. I’m screwed either way.”

The conversation was now about travel. Locke shook his head no. “Other then going through a bunch of states on train to get here I’ve been in California all my life. I have an aunt and uncle here, and they flew out for a birthday when I was little. Nothing spectacular. A totally forgettable event.”

Tarin nodded gravely when Locke spoke about his past experience with girlfriends. He wanted to chuckle, but teenage romance was nothing to laugh about…at least not to a teenager. ”How old are you, sixteen, seventeen? A week is a heck of an accomplishment. I played the, ‘I’m desperately in love with my best friend.’ game all through high school. Finally worked out…but only because she made a move.” The Medium explained, he shrugged his shoulders.

” And trust me kiddo…hitting a home run every time you’re at the plate isn’t the way you want things to go either. Striking out from time to time is good, and warming the bench is too. That‘s where you watch and learn. ”

Locke continued and Tarin nodded his head slowly as he watched the game and listened to the information about Locke’s family and their woes in love. The medium did chuckle at that and shake his head. ”Locke, just because things didn’t work out for your parents doesn’t mean you’re going to have the same problems. Be patient, I know it’s nearly impossible and that advice makes no sense, but trust me.” Tarin paused for a moment.

”Don’t let break ups or let downs get to you either. Every single girl you spend time with is going to be the wrong one…until you meet the right one. It’s just how it is.”

How had they gone so quickly from baseball to love and relationships? Tarin almost wanted to laugh at the irony of the whole situation, this was not what he would consider his area of expertise. The truth was, though, if he’d followed his own advice growing up his path to Lee probably would have been a lot easier. So…maybe he had the right idea.

Locke hadn’t traveled very far or wide excepting his trip to New York, where apparently he had an Aunt and Uncle. Tarin nodded, ”Nothing wrong with staying in one place. I had to move around the country for years…or at least I thought I did. It had its perks, but finding somewhere and settling is marvelous.”

What else was marvelous was the hot dog Tarin had half eaten while he was talking. Yup, stadium food was the best thing about a major league game. Definitely.

”I didn’t talk to my Mom for a long time after I left. My leaving was…complicated and I thought it would be better that way. I was wrong though. Family is important, don’t forget that.”

“Of course they’ll all be wrong until you find the right one. You aren’t going to be looking afterwards. Who decided to use baseball terms anyways?” Locke had to ask. It was ridiculous. It also proved to be a great way of ending the awkward conversation of his lack of love life. He hadn’t want to talk about girls in the first place. Somehow it just didn’t feel right to be talking about that sort of thing when there was a game going on right in front of them.

Locke licked his fingers, having devoured his hot dog rather rapidly. Next he’d have to find some nachos loaded with cheese byproduct, jalepino rings, sour cream, and those little green things that might be green onions. This game was proving to be a great one, not because the teams were evenly matched, making it a close game. There was that whole underdog factor going on and Locke was enjoying seeing all the fans going crazy for their respective teams, even if he did not support the whole single team thing. There was so much unity even if people were on opposite sides. Everyone was there just for the game, and maybe some unhealthy food. If he felt like putting more insight and profound thoughts into it, he could say that it was almost like a family. “Oh trust me, I don’t believe in much, but family is something I do believe in. Leaving Chris and Mai back in San Francisco was the hardest part of getting out here. It’s their birthday soon.”

Tarin chuckled at Locke’s summation of the situation. ”You know, your logic is sound there Locke. Unfortunately, we’re not talking about matters of logic. It’s matters of the heart.”

The shorter man looked out at the field and tried to figure out how he was going to explain the point he was trying to make. ”You’d never find anyone else anyway. Sure, I notice other women, I’m not blind…but Locke…there was never anyone for me besides Lee. There never will be anyone for me besides Lee. We‘ve only been married a year and a half, but we‘ve been through ten years worth of problems, and giving up was never a question.”

This was all a little heavy for a baseball game, and Tarin let the silence draw out a little bit when they’d finished covering the topic. Where was the dude who had cotton candy?

Locke pointed out that one of the only things he placed much value on was family and that leaving his home on the other side of the country had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

” Don’t ever think it’s too late to go back. It had been so long since I’d spoken to my family…but it’s never too late. As for your siblings you should send them something from New York for their birthday. I ‘heart‘ New York t-shirts or something.”

“Yeah well, I am blind,” Locke admitted to Tarin, “So even if there is someone out there, with my luck I ain’t going to notice them.” Ah negative thinking, the way Locke’s mind usually worked. It was safer that way. If you always anticipate the worst when something goes wrong it won’t be as painful or difficult. Logic would say as much at least. Though Locke wasn’t happy about being told that there were certain things that logic could not be applied to. Matters of the heart? Pshh. Even that could be broken down and explained.

As far as going back… well Locke wasn’t as sure what to do. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find the reasons for going back or staying. There were reasons galore, but they were weighing each other out equally. San Francisco had the twins, but it had that crushing silence and a lot of painful memories that logically speaking he should be over. New York gave him the freedom to be a mutant and kept the silence away, but it didn’t have the twins. “For now I need to be here. I’m not going to beg Kendra for money to get on another train. And I already sent them those shirts. They’ll grow out of them eventually, but I made sure to get a size bigger.”