"Well, the two of you do have that ninja thing in common somewhat, I suppose," Brooke replied. "You're nice," she said after a moment. "There's an anger there, but there are reasons for that anger - reasons connected to Pete. But you do care for him." She raised her chin. "Maybe she wanted to see what I'd do when faced with a less than agreeable situation, it's true. Maybe she wanted to see if I defaulted to using my natural gifts." She shook her head. "But no. That would only scare Pete away further, and that's not my aim. Test or no, more and more I'm seeing how desperately Pete does need to come out of his shell and get help. You're only blocking him from that, Athos."