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Quin was not taken off guard because Lee hadn't made sure that she was ready. That was good. Real fights wouldn't wait until you said you were ready. A lot of the ones that Lee had been in tried to get the jump on you without you knowing there was going to be a fight until after it started.

But Lee also was not expecting the younger woman to pull the move that she had.

It wasn't as though Lee had many options here; Lee currently has only one foot on the floor, and Quin had grabbed it.

Completely off balance, Lee felt herself falling backwards. Even as she hit the floor, Lee was starting to scramble back before Quin could get a lock on her leg. Bending her free leg, Lee brought her foot up to use Quin's shoulder as a springboard, pushing to put space between them as Lee pulled her other leg away from Quin's arms.

Scrambling backward, now using both her hands and feet, Lee put enough space between herself and Quin so that the younger woman wouldn't be able to easily reach her before quickly climbing to her feet.

Lee nodded when Tarin said he had donated what books had been left when he took over the shop. Not that there had likely been many; Lee doubted that any of those items had been ordered even a single time since she last did it. Thirteen years earlier. Plus, she had already read all of those books, it was simply a starting place if they had been around.

Tarin then went on to answer her question about whether the spirit had been moving on its own. Which, it had in a way, but had also been kind of dragged along.

"Of course it doesn't make sense," Lee said quietly, still in thought. "We haven't figured it out yet. Even when we do, it still might not make sense."

Lee bit her lip as she continued to think while sitting there, absently reaching out for her bottle of water. "The only actually possible ways I know of someone being in two places at the same time," Lee said after a minute, her words coming out slower than normal as she thought. "Would be a mutant who can copy themselves, which this spirit obviously isn't, and astral projection. Which again, not a mutant. But what if it's something like that that was forced onto it? Though without actually having a physical body to be separated from, it kinda split like you sensed?"

Lee took a deep breath and shook her head, still holding her unopened water. "I know, that doesn't really make sense either, but it's all I've got."

"I can't guarantee anything about how long you'll sleep, but I can get the ibuprofen for you," Lee said, giving Tarin another quick kiss. "Be right back, hon."

Getting up and making her way to the back of the shop, it didn't take long for Lee to grab the bottle of pills and a couple bottles of water from the fridge. But the entire time she was thinking about what Tarin had said about the spirit.

It had been like the spirit was in two places at once, which made the images unclear no matter how Tarin had tried to get them into focus. But he didn't know where the other 'piece' was. The more that Tarin had tried to force everything together, the more it had hurt. And Tarin had said he didn't think the spirit had been able to do anything.

Though it moved. It had come to the shop. But spirits didn't have real, physical bodies, not anymore. Physics didn't work on them the same way; they could move through walls, so why would friction be an issue? Did they even normally touch the ground, or do they just kinda…float?

Lee was working her bottom lip in thought by the time she made it back to the front of the shop.

"Were there any books around here when you took over the shop?" Lee asked as she set the medicine and water on the table. "I mean those ridiculous new age-y spirituality books."

Sitting down again, Lee sat just staring across the shop for a moment before turning back to Tarin. "You said it couldn't do anything. Was it moving on its own?"

Tarin didn't answer right away. Normally that might have worried Lee, but she knew that Tarin wasn't still linked with the spirit. His eyes had gone back to being green before he laid his head on the table. And with the effort he had been using, and the current sounds of his breathing, Lee thought it was quite possible he couldn't answer yet.

Eventually, Tarin straightened up. And while he still didn't look great, he started explaining. Not that he had much in terms of answers, but it was something, right?

And that something was scary.

The spirit had been split by this ancient Egyptian mystic? As in, split into pieces?

"I'm glad you did too," Lee said, shaking her head. She didn't even want to think about what might have happened otherwise.

"You mean, like that spirit wasn't in one piece?" Lee questioned. "I know you've never seen it, but how is that even possible?"

Lee squeezed Tarin's hand slightly. She may have been holding it still just as much to comfort herself as him. "It's not like there's much that can permanently, or even long-term, affect a spirit. Even when you think you've destroyed it…."

"Here we go…”

Lee kept her eyes on Tarin's face as he looked toward where this spirit must be standing. Her hands clasped his one hand feeling his energy, trying to sense any change in what she was siphoning.

If things went anywhere close to well or good, Lee knew that she wouldn't see or feel any real change in Tarin.

That thought was quickly thrown out the window as she saw a frown on Tarin's face.

And not long after that, he gasped and squeezed her hand. "Tarin?" Lee asked softly. This was not going smoothly. But that didn't mean he was in trouble. It could just be harder than he was expecting. Or that what he was seeing was worse, though Lee wasn't sure how something could be worse than all the images of death and dying Tarin would have seen through his life. Lee didn't want to know what would be worse.

But nothing seemed to be different about the energy she was feeling from Tarin. She was still siphoning the same amount. It was steady. And Lee didn't feel any increase in energy in front of her, or a dramatic decrease.

Then Lee saw something flicker out of the corner of her eye. Turning, Lee saw a spirit standing there. Kind of visible. And not in the normal 'kind of visible' spirit way where you saw it but could also see through it. It was blurry, even when it was there. But then the next moment it was gone.

That…was not normal. Tarin would either be giving the spirit enough energy to be visible, or he wouldn't. It wouldn't be flickering like this if it was within Tarin's control.

Lee was turning her eyes back to Tarin, to ask if he was alright, when she saw him looking unsteady in his chair. "Tarin, stop," she said, her voice louder than it had been previously. Firm. "Can you break it?"

Lee nodded when Tarin immediately ruled out practicing this at home. "Of course," she told him. And it made perfect sense; Tarin had the ability for the apartment to be completely spirit free, not simply low spirit activity.

And god, Lee hadn't even thought of that when she suggested the park. "I'm sorry," she said, her eyes dropping to their hands for a moment before looking up at Tarin again. There had always been memories in the park before, flashbacks, but never any mention of seeing the womens' spirits. So that possibility hadn't even crossed Lee's mind.

But this wasn't something that Lee could say from experience wouldn't be an issue. It was quite possible that all of those women had become spirits.

"I didn't even think…I'm sorry," Lee said again in a whisper.

Then Tarin was saying he could just practice here, in the shop. Where there always were, and always had been, a lot of spirits. Not all of them content in their afterlife to just ask for help. Some of them willing and able to try and take what they had wanted.

"I can be here with you when you practice."