Disclaimers: part 1.

Two of a Kind
by Thunderboomer
part 4

A week later, Lisa was allowed out of the infirmary, on light duties. She wondered how she was managing at all... she should be. She shook her head. The thought escaped her, as so many thoughts had been doing lately.

Boom was safe. That was all that mattered to her. In those moments when Boom was near her, Lisa put what was left of her faculties into him. Exhaustion or no, Boom needed everything he could get.

She tumbled into a nearby Cadet, mumbling a distracted apology to him, her, or it.

"Lisa?" Bridge asked behind her. Lisa wasn't sure if he'd been what she impacted against, so she mumbled another apology.

"Lisa, are you okay?"

"Fine," she mumbled. Her head felt like space dust, but she had to keep up the illusion that she was okay or Kruger would put her back in the infirmary, and that wouldn't keep Boom safe.

"Um, you look terrible. Not to be cruel. Do you want to use my makeup kit?" Bridge coughed. "It's just for touchups and stuff. I have dry skin"
Lisa boggled at that. "Wha? Where? How?"

"You've got bedhead and uou only used eyeliner on your left eye," Bridge explained. He pulled a small compact out of his back pocket.

Lisa gaped. "Um. I'll be going now. I'll be okay. Thanks, Boom."

"Bridge," he corrected.

"Right. Sky. Thing. Place. Object."

Bridge smiled. Another young man, a little older than Bridge (all she got was a blur of grey and blue) glared at her.

"Um. Be going now. Um. I think I should stop at the bathroom. Thanks, Water."

Lisa stumbled to the girls lavatory and worked on cleaning herself up. She forgot to check in the mirror twice, and was both times forced to start over. Her process was further impeded by her mind periodically wandering.

A blur drifted through her peripheral vision, grey and pink. "Hey," a soft voice asked. "You need some help."

Lisa knocked over the soap with one elbow. "Hand me that?" she asked pathetically.

The girl picked it up, and Lisa thanked her. She had a dancer's poise. Lisa remembered taking ballet as a girl, but her physical memory didn't seem to recall it.

"I should be more graceful than this," she muttered to herself. Boom? You busy?

There was no response. It was like she couldn't reach beyond her own mind anymore. Lisa staggered back against the sink, and reached out in desperation. Privacy be damned.

She tried to touch the young woman beside her and registered nothing.

Lisa slumped, barely aware of hitting her head against the sink.

I'm... I'm a normal! she cried.

"The girl is a MENACE," Sky insisted. "She's barely even aware of others, she's no better..."

"No better than Boom?" Boom finished as he swept into the infirmary. "I would tend to agree with you."

"There's nothing in Cadet Tegan's history to account for such an eratic shift in behavior," Dr. Manx helpfully observed.

"She didn't seem to be on drugs, just confused," Syd chirped. "She's going to be okay, right? She doesn't have a concussion or anything?"

"No, she seems to have gotten lucky," Dr. Manx replied.

Boom sat down by Lisa's bed. Lisa? Are you there?

He could barely read her; he wondered if this was how he'd felt to her in the beginning.

"Guys," Boom asked softly as he held her hand in his, "It would mean a lot to me if you'd let us get some privacy?"

Bridge and Syd nodded, each cajoling Sky until he left with them. He cast a sidelong glance at Dr. Manx. "Kat, if it's all the same, I'd rather you went with them. This has to do with something very private for Lisa."

"Boom, I'm her doctor. I have a right..."

"This doesn't pertain to her health, simply her psychological health. The last time I checked, you aren't a psychiatrist."

"Neither are you," Kat pointed out.

"No, but I am a telepath, no matter how suppressed my ability's been," Boom pointed out. "And right now, she needs me. Her outer body will heal... it's her inner self that's in pain."

Kat sighed. "Boom. Clark. I kept your secret when you enrolled in the academy, but you're asking me to look the other way as you pursue an avenue of treatment that will require a paper trail. What do you want me to tell Doggie?"

"Kruger knows, remember? It was in my paperwork." He laughed weakly. "Nobody else does, but he does and you do." Looking again at Lisa, he added, "Lisa's a telepath, too. Kruger knows it, even though she didn't put it on hers. She saved me from going through the rest of my life mindblind. It's the least I could do for her."

Kat laughed weakly herself. "Doggie has bosses, Clark. I just don't want this to expose you OR Lisa." Her voice lowered. "And if my suspicions are right, she turned out this way trying to fix you. What happens if she puts YOU back this way?"

Boom shrugged. "Well, everybody's used to stupid old Boom."

"I won't let this happen to either of you if I can help it. We need help from something, someone else."

Lisa groaned. "Oh, itai, itai, ow..." She tried to sit up. "Did I throw up in that sink?"

Boom looked over at Kat, pleadingly. "We should be able to solve this ourselves."

Kat sighed. "Lisa, how are you feeling? You've bruised your brain. You came just shy of a concussion, so you should stay off your feet for at least a couple of days."

Lisa opened her eyes, squinting. "I just got out of the infirmary," she said.

"Given your condition, you may be back here often," Kat added dryly.

"Did I throw up in the sink?" Lisa wanted to know.

"Look, Kat," Boom said, pressing his chance. "If we can fix Lisa..."

Kat glared. "You are not going into her head, Clark. That's final! If needs be, I'll banish you from the infirmary and tell Doggie why."

"I WILL NOT LET THIS BE," Boom demanded. He took a slow breath and lowered his voice. "What do you expect me to do, Kat? Psychics aren't in the phone book! I can't outsource a solution, especially not if she IS viral."

"SPD has other psychics," Kat said, still glaring at her assistant. "And specialists on viral attacks on psychics. What you need to do is get some sleep and not try to tend to her yourself. And that is my final word on the matter."