Disclaimer: Not mine

Notes: Spoilers for up to 'Future Unknown'

--

Wes could do this.

He just needed to focus. Yes, his opponent was stronger then he was (and had no problem with taunting him about it), but if he just blocked it out, found some weakness to exploit he could-- he could--

He couldn't.

Katie didn't even offer a hand as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "So let's see... you're sweeping the clock tower for a week, making my bed for two weeks, and that soda of yours is now mine." With a cheerfulness that really wasn't necessary, she plucked the can off the table. It fizzed a little when she opened it.

Wes grimaced as he flexed his fingers tentatively-- they didn't seem broken. "I wonder if your parents realized you would strong arm your way out of your chores when they decided on giving you super strength."

"What are you talking about?" The soda can gave Katie's voice a hint of an echo.

He tested the muscles in his arm wrestling hand again, even though the pain had more or less faded. Obviously, what Ransik had told him had been more than a little biased... but the part about genetic engineering, both its virtues and its flaws, had to be true. It was the only explanation how something like Ransik existed. "Well, scientists in your time can throw in whatever you want in a baby genetically speaking, right?" Wes decided not to mention his source. Hopefully, she'd just assume Jen had told him.

"Well, yeah. That doesn't mean they don't mess up-- a lot." Wes breathed a sigh of relief. Katie hadn't even raised an eyebrow at his mysterious understanding (for lack of a better term) of thirtieth century science. She smiled at him easily. "Do you really think any parent would want a baby that could break their bones when they hugged them?"

Wes felt himself frown. Why hadn't he thought of that before? And now that he was giving it some serious thought, didn't this mean that Katie...

"So it was a fluke? Like with the mutants?"

When he said it, he immediately hated himself, because it had to be a sensitive topic... at least he thought so until she grinned at him again. "You got it." Katie took a gulp and pulled up a chair. "I was a late bloomer-- it didn't kick in until I was fourteen." For the first time since their conversation began, her smiled faded a little. "It sure picked a lousy time to kick in, too." Suddenly, she downed the rest of her drink and tossed it in their recycling bin. Just as suddenly, she reached for a glass that had been there since breakfast. "See what I'm doing here?" She gave Wes a mock toast. "It took me a year to learn how to do this without shattering it."

"... That must've been rough, especially growing up."

Katie shrugged. "Yes, but I was lucky."

Wes knew that he was this close to asking too much from even someone as friendly as Katie, but he had to know. "What makes you say that?"

"I was lucky enough to have a family to keep reminding me it's not what fate hands us, but what we make of it whenever it seemed too much." She smirked at him. "Sort of like a certain new Red Ranger who shall remain nameless."

He was still trying to think of a way to respond to that when he heard it. "Um, Katie? Wes?" Judging from the sound of Trip's voice, he was about halfway up the stairs. "I'm back from the store and I could really use some help with these."

"We'll be there in a sec!" Katie shouted as she bolted for the stairs, leaving Wes behind her.

He hadn't been expecting what Katie had told him... any of it... but why did it matter? Katie was still Katie, after all. And like she reminded him, it was their choices that mattered. There was no point in dwelling on anything else.

Wes smiled to himself as he followed Katie down the stairs.