OOC: This thread is set on Saturday, November 13th

The wind was almost cold as they made their way down the street on Shin’s motorcycle. Kealey had her arms around his waist, and even though he was Kealey’s favorite person in the world, she was glad that they couldn’t talk because of the road noise. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but she had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be any kind of pleasure trip. She had to try though, and Shin was with her a hundred-percent. It made her warm in a way her coat couldn’t start to touch.

The building was on 20th street, and Kealey was slightly surprised at how normal it looked. The lettering on the side labeled it “Bayview Correctional Facility”. It was a women’s-only center, and Kealey spent a moment looking at the large mural that covered one face of the building as they parked the bike. Kealey took off her helmet, it was yellow and had a cat’s ears on it. Shin’s looked like pac-man. Usually, Kealey couldn’t look at either of them without laughing. Today she just shook out her hair and put the helmet in its place. Then she looked at the building again.

It was tall, many stories stacked on top of each other with a fenced yard at the top. There was a single door and it was blue. Kealey looked at Shin. ”Thanks again.” she said. ”You didn’t have to come along…and I really appreciate it.”

Partially, she was stalling. Kealey had a feeling that her sister was going to be anything but happy to see her, and now that she was here…she was scared. She looked at the blue door and frowned.

”Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should wait?” she said, then immediately shook her head. She’d told Shin not to let her back out, and this was not the kind of position she wanted to put him in.

”Forget I said that. Let’s go.”

He couldn't start to imagine how Kealey felt about her sister. She always was the one who felt the emotions, the one who would be most affected by this visit. It was undoubtedly tough for her. He got that. He wished it could be easier.

Shin supported her choice, though, no matter what happened or was said. She had his backing, one-hundred per cent.

The ride to the prison sure was cold and silent... whatever thoughts she had, she had plenty of time to think them. It was the kind of silence that could amplify doubts, illuminate fears. Worries, looming.

Shin wasn't thinking about any of that. He was leaving that to her.

Still... it was hard not to understand what she was going through. It was even harder to understand it. Man, he really didn't know, did he? This whole situation was complicated. This whole situation was hard.

They found the parking lot easily enough, parked the bike, put away their helmets. Kealey thanked him. Shin only nodded. He looked silently towards the correctional facility.

It seemed that while getting there was no problem, those last few meters into the building were the toughest. Kealey almost balked. Shin looked at her seriously. He gave her 'the look'. She changed her mind.

"Good," Shin said, tone like that of the coach that was glad his star player had made the right choice. He turned away from her, still supportive and serious. There might have been a bit of discomfort hidden below all that, but it wasn't important. The 'Shin' emotions were far more prominent. He loved her. He could be strong enough for the both of them. He wouldn't let her walk away from this without doing what she'd set out to do. He'd shove her down the hall if he had to. For now, he hoped she'd stay strong and follow him.

He led the way.

Shin’s stability helped…it helped more than he could possibly know. Over time, Kealey had figured out that while she was good at looking at and analyzing everyone else’s emotions, she struggled with her own sometimes. Her emotions towards Shin…she’d figured out a long time ago…those were easy. All of the emotions that were popping up while dealing with her sister? A different thing entirely. Shin was steady, and sure enough for the two of them.

That was good because Kealey was a nervous wreck.

He didn’t reply when she tried to walk away, he just looked right back at her, steady and calm. She changed her mind and came back, and he was pleased. He hadn’t even had to say anything, he knew not to say anything. Kealey took a deep breath to try and slow down her brain and all the things rolling around inside of it. She focused on Shin’s feelings, the ones that were so familiar they were almost her own. Along with the determination he was feeling, it helped.

Shin led the way. Kealey only hesitated for a moment before following him. The door opened with surprising ease…but then again Kealey didn’t know what she’d expected. People had to get in somehow. The inside was very…institutional. There was a desk and there was a lot of bullet proof glass. Kealey shuddered a bit…then she showed the visitation pass she’d been given. The next few minutes were full of paperwork and Kealey found herself growing impatient. Would Maire be expecting a visitor? Had they told her who the visitor was? Kealey didn’t know how these things worked, but the institutionalism of the place was really starting to get under her skin.

”You’ll wait out here for me?” she said, turning to Shin as she waited to enter the visiting area. She knew he would, but for some reason she wanted to hear the words.

Then it was time. Kealey watched as the guard opened the door, then she stepped through.

This room was strange too, it looked like someone had tried to replicate a friendly park inside a building with white cinderblock walls. There were…picnic tables, the ones that are obviously metal with the little plastic coating over them to make them warmer and more inviting. There were various women sitting around in various states of pleasure at the prospect of a guest. All but one.

Kealey knew before she turned her head to look at the woman sitting at the table that it was her sister. The second she’d walked into the room a little flame of hatred and anger had blossomed and was steadily growing. Kealey felt her cheeks color. This had been a bad idea…but she was already there. She couldn’t turn back now.

Kealey lifted her chin slightly, taking a deep breath and approaching the redhead.

”Hello Maire.”

Shin agreed. He would wait.

Kealey left, and Shin found a seat in the waiting area. He snagged an ancient magazine about hunting and fishing, cracking it open to an article on a brand new shotgun. A small snort escaped him.

"Bet I could top that if I tried."

Amateurs. He needed to practice replicating that weird shard ball blast he'd done before. Maybe he could turn it into a full-fledged spirit gun shotgun blast?

It was quite a while later when the door to the waiting area opened and Kealey re-emerged. Her emotions were a swirling tempest of everything from pity to almost violent anger and everything in between. She saw Shin and stifled several different options for what to do. She was a little out of control, and there were a lot of people around. Looking like a loon in the middle of a penitentiary was usually a bad idea. She took a deep breath and approached, trying for the moment to simply forget what she’d just experienced. She needed to talk about it, let it out, but this wasn’t the right time or place. There were too many people here, too many other emotions for Kealey to sort out what she’d just seen.

She had to hold it together until Shin could get them somewhere reasonable. Approaching, she noticed he was reading a hunting and fishing magazine. Did Shin like hunting and fishing? Kealey didn’t know why that seemed odd, but it did. She stood by him for a moment before she spoke, happy that her voice only wavered a little bit.

”Can we go? Not home, somewhere quiet? I need to think.” she said, almost pleadingly. She knew she only had to ask, but the desperation was still there, if only a little.

Shin hadn't noticed her until she said something. He looked up at Kealey's face and saw a lot of emotions playing out behind blue eyes. She wanted to leave. Shin closed the magazine and set it aside with one hand, not even bothering to look where he was setting it. "Alright." He got to his feet. "Let's go."

There wasn't much else that needed saying. They walked out of the penitentiary and left the parking lot. As the motorcycle sped along, Shin was quiet. It was a repeat of the last quiet ride they'd had. There was silence, because both of them needed to think. Kealey obviously had her own issues to deal with. For Shin, it was picking out a 'not-home' place to take Kealey. It was harder than one would have thought.

The mansion was off-limits. Crowded places were also no good. In New York city, that eliminated a lot of locations. Central Park might have seemed solitary at first glance, but with the number of walkers and runners going around the park's many sidewalks, privacy was an issue.

He couldn't think of any place, so he asked her. "Where should I take you?"

Driving and thinking was hard.

Most of the time when Kealey moved far enough away from a person that they were out of her range, the feelings she shared with them faded and slowly disappeared. Most of the time it was a relief, because most of the time it worked. This time, it didn’t. Every time she blinked, Kealey could see the burning eyes that so very closely mirrored her own, and every time she let her mind wander, the piercing feelings persisted in their invasion of her psyche. Some of the emotions were her own. The knowledge that Kealey had gained during the rather brief conversation was powerful and self-condemning. It was a lot.

She needed to get away. She needed to get away quickly.

Shin was happy to oblige, just as Kealey had known he’d be. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on those emotions. For once, the warm comfort that was always there seemed unable to cut through everything else and Kealey sighed as they walked from the building.

They were quiet while they walked, and quiet when they got on the bike, and quiet after. Part of Kealey was glad for the silence, she didn’t know what to say. As always in situations like this, the blond marveled at how terrible she was at dealing with her own feelings. Then Shin spoke. He didn’t know where to take her.

Kealey wasn’t irritated, it wasn’t Shin’s fault and he really had tried. She’d felt him pondering over the options. She’d set him a difficult task. Where could they go that was close but secluded enough to meet her needs?

The answer came as they passed through the maze of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in downtown.

Maze.

”The hedge maze?” she replied simply.

It was close to home and warmth, but far enough removed that unless there was an extreme number of people out exploring on this cool day it would be quiet.

She gave him a lifeline. Shin took the first turn he could that would get him back to the mansion.

They stopped at the main gates, and were let in. Shin parked his motorcycle in the garage, and hung up their helmets. He took Kealey to the hedge maze. Then, came the hard part.

Shin smiled at her weakly. For once, he was unprepared. That did wonders for one's confidence... in the opposite way that he wanted.

"What's on your mind?" Shin asked.

The ride back was the easy part. While they moved and the wind whipped around them, Kealey didn’t have to talk, didn’t have to discuss anything that had just happened. That would change when they got back to the mansion though, when they were in the relative safety and privacy of the hedge maze. Kealey had seen and felt people who kept feelings like the ones she was having bottled up. It ate at a person from the inside out, and she would not do that to herself. Now when she had someone like Shin who would take everything she had to say in stride, and know what to say. He always did.

Shin parked in the garage at the Mansion, took her helmet, then they walked. That part was silent as well, and Kealey once again thanked her lucky stars that Shin understood her so well. She needed these final moments to sort out how to best put into words what had happened when she’d spoken to her sister in the penitentiary. Kealey knew Shin would ask, and she knew she would tell him everything she could, but there was so much she didn’t understand. Her head hurt slightly and Kealey sighed pulled her hair loose from the ponytail she favored when riding on the motorcycle. The wind was calm and the loose hair gave her something to do with her hands.

The maze was a place of happy memories, and as they walked some of the tension left Kealey’s neck and shoulders, making the deep, even breaths the blond took come more easily. This was a good place, a quiet place compared to anywhere else close-by, and for the first time since they’d left the correctional facility, Kealey could sort out what was in her head.

Shin spoke, and she turned to look at him, registering the emotions that went with the words. She’d been a bit unfair earlier, automatically expecting that he’d know exactly what to do. No matter how close they came, nobody was completely perfect. It made her hesitate though, not wanting to put him in a position where he would fail. No, that was unfair too, assuming that just because she knew how a person felt about something she knew what they’d do. He’d asked, he’d wanted to help, Kealey would let him try. She took a deep breath.

”She hates me Shin.” she started softly, breaking eye contact and looking at the ground as she wrapped her arms around her middle. ”She’s just absolutely eaten up by it. It’s not anger, or even rage, it’s just this…this…inferno of feeling.” she paused and took a deep breath. ”She’d barely talk to me…no matter how much I tried.”

That wasn’t all, not by a long shot, but it was a start, ”I think I could handle it if that was it. If she just hated me, but she’s so sad, and so miserable…and I don’t know what I expected, I mean, obviously her powers present a problem for keeping her there…but I just hadn’t expected…” Kealey frowned, trailing off. This was hard.

Kealey let it out. And it was hard.

Her sister hated her. Kealey couldn't look him in the eye when she said it. Her body language said 'cold'. The harsh truth made him shiver. That much hate, that much loathing. Shin absolutely got how that kind of thing would make Kealey just a bit crazy. It worried him, too. He didn't like how much Kealey's sister hated her. It just didn't make sense to him.

Shin stepped across the grass to rest his hands on her shoulders, then pulled her into a hug. He rubbed her back. "I don't know how anyone could dislike you. I'm sorry to hear about your sister. If you don't want to visit her again, you don't have to."

It was weak to give up so quickly. There was always the possibility Kealey's sister could change... but if she did all this to Kealey just through proximity, he didn't want to give her that chance. It crushed him to see Kealey unhappy this way, like all hope had been sucked from her by a vacuum cleaner.

A way out. Shin was giving her away out. He was conflicted, and worried, and as upset about the whole thing as Kealey was. He offered comfort in a hug and Kealey took it, almost clinging to Shin as they stood in the middle of the hedge maze. She just stayed like that for a few moments head buried in his shoulder as she worked through what he’d said.

She didn’t have to go back. Kealey knew that, she hadn’t had to go in the first place. She wanted to, she felt like she needed to, that she owed it to her sister.

”It’s the least I can do.” Kealey said, still not moving. ”I should have looked for her, after the bombing... or made sure she was gone, or something. All that time, and everyone had given up on her. I should have done something...I was such a mess though.” Kelaey took a deep breath and let it out, trying to release some of the tension. It didn’t work, and she lifted a hand, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

”It will be better next time.” she said firmly, with a nod of her head, ”I just wasn’t prepared.”

Kealey paused for a moment. The next part was hard, really hard. ”They had her in this…this…collar. I think it did something if she tried to use her powers. It hurt her a few times. It makes me wonder what she was trying to do.” It made her wonder, but Kealey really didn’t want to think about it. It made her think about the library at FIT too much.

Kealey shook her head and looked up at Shin, meeting his eyes to see if he understood, ”It just didn’t seem right…to do that to someone.”

He wanted to tell her, just like in the situation with Roland and all those people, that it hadn't been her fault, but he didn't say anything. He stayed where he was, and let her work through things on her own terms. He didn't give her excuses, or further escapes. Whatever she decided was up to her, not him. She was the one who'd have to live with those decisions the most. They were the decisions that would affect her.

"I'll support you," He said quietly, when she talked about 'next time'. "I'll be there."

Shin tried to smile at her. It came off a bit weak, but the point was, he'd tried. The next thing she said sapped the smile off his face. Memories of Romania, painful and dark, flooded back to him. Collars.

Almost as soon as the memories had returned, he knew he'd have to talk to her about them. She'd said it just hadn't seemed right, and it wasn't. And just now, his emotions had been obvious. She'd be curious. She'd been curious before. Shin put his hands on her shoulders as he took a step back, looking her in the eye.

"Kealey." Shin said, seriously. His eyes were grave, but soft and understanding. He knew she'd be curious, but more importantly, knew she would understand. He nudged her shoulders down to the grass as he moved to crouch and sit. "There's something I need to talk to you about. It'll take a while. We should sit down."

Shin said he’d be there for her. Kealey already knew that, Shin had been there for her for a really long time now. It wasn’t going to change. He was the most constant thing in her life. The smile he tried was small and forced, but again Kealey was touched by how hard he tried. Without the benefit of a power like hers, he still manage to say or do the right thing to make her feel better.

At least until she brought up the collar that had been around Maire’s neck in the penitentiary. Feelings, dark and potent, flooded through Shin and Kealey looked at him with wide eyes at the feelings she had made him feel. The only thing she’d mentioned had been the collar, nothing else about Maire had bothered him up until this point. That had to be it, something tickled at the back of her mind, another time when emotions like this had surged to the forefront of Shin’s mind. He stepped back and she momentarily mourned the loss of contact, with all those things Shin was feeling, she wanted to be closer, as if somehow that would help.

He looked her in the eyes, and she looked back steadily, determined to hold it together no matter what spillover she was getting. It was so unsettling to see these emotions in Shin’s eyes and to feel them coming from him. Shin was never dark like this, never this sad. He said her name and Kealey’s face reflected just how serious she was taking the matter. If he wanted to talk, she’d listen, if he didn’t….Kealey was determined not to push. Not too hard at least.

He nudged her shoulders down and she sat, completely unconscious of the chill on the ground. Shin spoke and Kealey nodded her head, he wanted to tell her something…it was going to take a while, and it was the source of all those dark emotions. ”Tell me…” she said, determined to be as strong and supportive for Shin as he always was for her, no matter the emotions involved in whatever she was about to hear.

Shin took a breath and gathered his thoughts. This wouldn't be easy, sharing. He hoped she got that. It was painted all over his face and his feelings.

"I want you to understand," Shin said. "Why that collar makes me shudder. Remember when I talked about Romania?" He thought he'd mentioned it to her. He'd been drinking at the time, though, so any memories he had of that conversation were somewhat foggy. He strained for the briefest of moments to recall what he'd said, then gave up. He might as well explain it all. "How the X-men went to Romania to deal with a Registration act, much like the one we had here? Well, they used those collars... and when I got caught... I had to wear one. And this was around the time my eyes changed, and I started seeing the world painted like a grid, and knowing weird details, like the exact length of your hair or how far apart we are when we kiss... so every time I opened my eyes, I got hit with pain and disorientation. Electric shocks. It was Hell." He shook his head sadly, and frowned.

Romania. Somehow those abyssal emotions always came back to Romania. Shin was a happy person, he always had been. It was one of the things that had inevitably drawn Kealey to him, he was happy and steadfast, and calm. When he wasn’t, something was decidedly wrong in the world, at least Kealey’s world. These emotions, these dark, tormented, stomach clenching emotions only surfaced when he talked about Romania. The blond nodded, how could she forget?

This was hard for Shin, really hard, and Kealey could feel the urge to hold back as strongly as if she were keeping something herself. It almost made her tell him to stop, that he didn’t have to tell her these things if it was going to be this hard. He’d said he wanted to explain to her why the collar made him shudder, but Kealey had a feeling that she already knew. She crossed her arms over her suddenly sour stomach and listened.

They’d gone to Romania to do something good. To stop people from being treated like animals, and instead had been caged themselves. Kealey knew tiny bits and pieces, but they were blurry since any time they’d spoken on this topic before now had involved alcohol. Shin confirmed the conclusion Kealey had nearly drawn for herself and she let out breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding in a sympathetic little wounded sound. Her own feelings rose up now, and Kealey realized how it was that people could fight when they felt intensely about a cause. Shin was the best of people, the very best, and knowledge that he’d been treated so poorly made Kealey more angry than she could remember being in a long time and she struggled to remember that she could do nothing to change the past. She took a deep breath, still watching Shin closely as he spoke. She couldn’t change the past, but she could help now. Being angry on top of all the things Shin was feeling wouldn’t help anyone. Especially not the person who needed it most.

Kealey had known the details of what Shin’s powers could do for quite some time now, and he explained that his eyes had changed during his time in the camps. Strange, Kealey couldn’t remember them every being different. The way he described that particular power made what he followed the description with even worse. Shin said it was hell, and the way he felt made Kealey believe it heart and soul. She hesitated a moment, then reached out and placed her hand over Shin’s. ”I don’t understand how people can do that to other people.”

She shook her head, still digesting all the feelings coming from Shin, she had questions, and he’d said he wanted her to understand. ”If...that happened every time you opened your eyes…what did you do? How did you get out?”