Those first few weeks of living with her mutation were some of the worst she'd ever had before the war. Everyone around her had been terrified of what she could do, and she'd been terrified of herself.

"My mutation is in my skin," she explained carefully, the way she'd told dozens of people before, but none in this world. "When I touch someone else's skin, I... I absorb them. That's the best term for it, really. Thoughts, memories, personalities, skills, special abilities - I get all of it, though the intensity and duration depends on the length of contact." It was easier to explain it like this, using the impersonal terms and putting distance between the situation and her emotions.

"I also drain the person of their life force in the process. Ten seconds is all it takes for me to kill a normal human, fifteen for someone not so normal." She'd found that out the hard way and it showed in her voice, the way she frowned and turned her head away just enough to hide part of that uncomfortable expression from Steve. "I couldn't control it in my world. For fifteen years, I couldn't touch anyone for fear of hurting them."