How long has it been, since I've walked down this street, he thought. How long has it been since I've run into her?

The questions were the foremost in his mind, as Kyle's bike cruised slowly down the cracked and faded ashpalt that made up the roads in this end of the city. A city with constant rain will do that eventually, especially during the winter, as ice thawed and froze over again, the water eating away slowly at the earth beneath it. Months ago that had happened and while much of the roads were being repaired, this end of the city hadn't marketed the need compared to more often used areas, the roads that dealt with much of the city's traffic. For a car, it was hell. For Kyle and his bike, it was worse than that. Hence taking it slow and steady.

Besides, it was nothing compared to what awaited him at the end of this broken and shattered road. The real threat awaited him just ahead, in a building that was just as faded as the area around it, although at least the building showed signs of life. A couple of men, slipping inside as another pair came out, showed that life still remained within the place, and a moment of listening to the men exiting banter told Kyle that his target was truly within. Driving his bike up to park atop the sidewalk outside the building, Kyle kicked the stand down, locked his helmet to his bike and turned to pass through the doors. He did not hesitate, didn't falter. That Kyle had long died, back in that tank in the lab. This Kyle was not afraid to do what needed to be done; but he would be a fool not to be cautious.

Inside the old building, various pieces of equipment were set up, some of them with buffed out men making proper use of them. But Kyle's attention was drawn to the four sided boxing ring that took up a major portion of the floor space and the people around it. More specifically, the woman standing just outside the ring, watching two men pummel a few years out of each other. Silently, Kyle came up behind her, but stayed out of reach as he watched the men fight. Then, with calm in his voice, Kyle turned his attention to the woman.

"The man on the right is getting sluggish; he should probably quit before he gets himself hurt worse. Or is that the purpose of their exercise?"

He was right of course. "Brian!" The man turned toward Noel, the one who had called his name and promptly got smashed upside the head hard enough that he was knocked silly. He wasn't out, but it was enough for the aggressor to realize that the other guys was out of the fight. "Well that works too."

The brunette flicked her calf-length braid over her shoulder and turned to... well she forgot what she was going to do because the guy who'd pointed out the fight was Kyle. Long lost Kyle. Disappeared off the face of the earth Kyle.

She threw a punch at him. Not a sloppy slug or haymaker. A quick, controlled jab. Not aimed at his face.

"Hey." She didn't sound angry almost as if the greeting and the punch were two disconnected things.

The man Noel had called out to, Brian as it were, slumped to the mat below with barely a word as his opponents fist gave his brain a proper rattle. It was almost enough to make Kyle pity the man, but then, that's what happened when you let yourself get distracted in a fight. He should have called for a pause or replied to her without turning his attention from his foe. Still, the man would be taking a good rest now, so who could question the means to the end?

Shaking his head, Kyle focused his attention on Noel as she spun to face him. He saw the expression on her face change when she saw him. Nothing too spectacular, merely a shifting of the muscles that suggested surprise. Kyle paid very special attention to keeping his eyes from meeting hers when she faced him, focusing instead on everything below them. He'd made the mistake of looking into her eyes once; he knew what power lay behind them.

Fittingly, her response to his appearance was to jab at him. Swiftly, without warning, without a word. It was aimed low, a shot to his kidney or stomach. Just as swiftly, Kyle's free hand shot out and caught her fist in his hand, stopping it just moments before it would have given him a nasty smack. Releasing her hand, Kyle tipped his head slightly to her by way of reply.

"Hey. Sorry for the absence. I was...busy, comes to mind, although detained would be a more fitting reason. Still, I should have come back sooner. Apologies. You've been well?"

Should have aimed even lower. He let her hand go immediately. Well, at least he still had good instincts. "Seems like you've been busy." Noel eyeballed him as if she could discern what happened just by looking.

As for herself, "As well as can be expected." Which could mean just about anything, but polite chitchat rarely got much accomplished anyway. The guys hauled Brian off and called up the next pair. There were always more that were willing to get into the ring. "Did you need something or were you just stopping in to say hello? Not that I don't appreciate learning that you're not dead and all." She folded her arms and turned to watch the fight. This was at least something she could understand.

This fight was less equally matched, but what the smaller man lacked in size he made up for in brutality. When he got his hits in, they stuck with the other guy. The trick was getting to land 'em. "More to hit than just the inside. Which was more or less what the others who were watching were suggesting. sometimes these things were easier to see from the outside of a fight. The smaller man switched tactics and started pummeling some kidneys.

"Busy indeed. And neck deep in trouble more often than not."

Which was what he was in with her. Her voice betrayed nothing, as calm and neutral as ever, but in the short time he'd been around her, Kyle knew that what her voice conveyed was not always in agreement with what she felt. That sharp, sudden jab at his lower body hadn't been a playful strike(well, to him it might have been considered as such), but a thrust intended to harm and cause bodily pain. That action was what made Kyle believe she was less than pleased with him. He was likely not far off the mark.

Kyle's eyes followed her motion to face the ring, watching as the stuttering Brian was taken aside and two new brawlers took their place in the ring. Unlike the last fight, where it was size versus size, this fight was between two differently sized combatants. The big man was obviously the stronger, but what the little man lacked in sure body mass, he made for with speed and painfully hard blows. Kyle could see the pain on the other man's face every time one of those blows found flesh. To the bigger man's credit though, he just kept on going.

After watching that for a few tense moments, Kyle finally decided to answer her previous question, his tone neutral. "I could say I just came by to see how you were doing and to find reason to admire, but I know you would call bullshit on that. So while that is a portion of the reason I'm here, the main reason is a much better excuse. I came to finish what was started; I came to resume my lessons and see how my recent experiences measure up to you."

The little man was on a much sharper offensive now, striking at the kidneys of the larger man and sending him reeling back, those hard shots making painful purchase with each hit. The big man was strong and stubborn, but he was relying on that and his size far too much. Waiting quietly, Kyle watched to see if any of the others would yell the simple words that might make this a more even fight. When none did, Kyle sighed and prepared his voice. "Stop taking his hits as if you were a wall; you were given arms to block as well as punch."

She wrinkled her nose at the advice Kyle shouted out. Sure, plenty of others were giving their input, but did he have to put some in directly in conflict with hers? She was rooting for the little guy. Noel turned from the fight and took in Kyle's appearance.

He didn't look terribly different. Same crazy hair. Same-ish clothes more or less. He even maintained that funny way of speaking which was a little old world flattery mixed with a kid who probably grew up in the 90's. He probably thought it was a heroic way to talk. It wasn't. But it was a little endearing.

What was not endearing was the way he avoided her eyes. Seriously? They weren't enemies. It didn't usually just slip.

"What have you been up to?" Neck deep in trouble? Recent experiences that may have honed his skill? Noel had a hand for each hip ready to sass as needed. It wasn't as if she weren't willing. She was. It was just that he didn't seem to be taking it very seriously if he thought that he could just show up once every few months.

Kyle watched the fight for a few moments longer, watched as the big man learned to deflect instead of simply take hits, while the smaller man switched up tactics again and stayed on the move, always striking for where a block did not cover or an opening that could be exploited. Each was now giving back what they got in kind, but the smaller man had gained the advantage early. Unless the big man pulled a rabbit out of his fist, he was going to be the loser of this fight.

Only then did Kyle turn to answer Noel's question, his mind taking the time he spent watching the fight to consider his answer. It hadn't take much debate, seeing as there was only one clear way to put it that she might accept.

"Training mostly, at least over the last little bit. Experimenting with my power in the Danger Room at Sanctuary. But that's not the reason I was absent for the longest. I ran afoul of a group that was taking mutants for experiements. I ended up floating in a test tank for a while myself, until some of the mutants at Sanctuary managed to free me. I could give you a full regard of the tale, if you want. But that's what took me out of the game for the most part.

It wasn't my intention to look like I was snuffing your lessons. It was, quite literally, out of my hands for a while. But on a positive note...". His eyes found hers by mistake and for a moment, Kyle was frozen in the thought that her powers might rip his memories from him, like they had done before. Moments passed before Kyle realized...they did not. A fool he was, to think that she could not control her own power.

Meeting her eyes firmly this time, his eyes met hers with neutral debate. "My skills have not rusted as a result. In fact, I believe I've become dealier then ever. Would you like to test it out?'

"Would I like to experience this newfound deadliness first hand? Gosh, you make it sound so appealing." She gave him a look to both let him know she was teasing and that maybe he could have thought that one out a little bit more.

"I assume you practiced this newfound deadliness on your previous captors?" Who wouldn't want restitution after such an act? Noel might have ribbed him about getting nabbed if it weren't a very real danger for a mutant in New York. Even so no one ever saw fit to kidnap Noel. She wasn't powerful or cooperative. Or maybe she was just lucky.

All joking aside, the memorymancer had to ask. "Are you sure you're okay?" On the inside, she meant. And she was going to be paying very close to his answer.

"I could have sugar coated it, but sugar can only hide so much." Shrugging, Kyle returned the look with one that answered her own, showing that he had caught that and yet did not feel the idiot for speaking of it as such.

"Some of them paid the expense of my suffering, but not the ones that mattered. Those in charge were far away and those who were their instrument fled quickly. But I got those who served them easily enough, although they were not much challenge." Which was true. Normal humans were guns were a threat, but caught off guard, they were easy prey for Kyle. His power made even guns something that, while deserving of the fear they meant to inflict, easier to handle. A quick flick of his hand, a bolt to the right place, and the gun was removed from triggering finger or his opponent blinded long enough for Kyle to get close.

When she asked if he was okay, Kyle paused for a moment, both due to the surprise that she'd asked and to honestly consider the question. After a moment, he simply shrugged lightly again before answering. "I'm...different. Of that there is no doubt. Physically I'm fine, better than before honestly. Up here though..." he said, tapping a finger to his temple, "things have changed. I'm not the psycho I was. I've...mellowed, so to speak."

So he didn't get the shadowy string pullers? Big whoop. He made it sound like he put plenty of hurt on the actual hands that harmed him and as an added bonus, he was standing here today. "Not much challenge and yet, they managed to nab you?"

Psycho? Only one of Noel's eyebrows took a trip up toward her hairline. Overzealous, uninhibited, or untempered, sure. Psycho? Not so much. Psycho was one of those words that left very little wiggle room, like evil. Noel had never met anyone who she might consider to be 'evil.' She was pretty sure she had seen psycho, though and Kyle hadn't been it.

The word choice was interesting.

"I think I can see that... and you're sure you want sword training? What for?"

The memorymancer stretched and motioned with her head to give Kyle the non-verbal cue that she wanted him to walk and talk with her. Just standing and talking was making her uncomfortable. They were no longer contributing to the training at hand so they may as well walk. Noel led him to the door and grabbed a faded plum colored hoodie from the hook. "Walk and talk?"

"Even the weakest opponent can be a handful if they catch their opponent unawares. Even more so when done in greater numbers and with drugs designed to knock their target into a dreamless sleep."

It was the entire truth; Kyle had been caught off guard, surely, but he'd managed to put a few of their numbers down before they'd opted to use tranqulizers to numb his body and mind and make him pass into a long darkness that never seemed to end. He still managed to put another couple down before even his long winded stamina could not fight off the effects of the drugs, which was probably why he'd taken another. After that, he floated in the void for countless days before Allison and the others had cracked the tank, waking him from the darkness.

With a tip of her head, Noel motioned for him to follow and he fell in step with her as she made for the door. No sooner was her hoodie on than Kyle held the door for her to exit before swiftly following her out and off down the street. "The sword training is more a formality at this point. What I'd really like to begin, with your permission, is a different kind of training. My best skills against your own, save for what your power does. I need to be faster and stronger and smarter...and there are few that can top you in any of those areas. Simply, I'd like our sessions to become more one on one fights, in a sense."

Drugs. That was an entirely distasteful idea. "The more you tell me, the more questions it raises. Were you targeted specifically as Kyle or generally as a person? As a mutant? Did they know your powers before hand? Were they prepared specifically? What were they doing?" He probably couldn't divine the intentions of his attackers, especially if he had just ended them.

"Do you even want to go down this route? Because I can stop." She was trying to give him the option to have her leave it alone because what she really wanted to do was poke holes in it. She wanted to find the motivation of these people and unravel the whole operation so that no one would have to do what Kyle just did.

Noel shoved her hands into her pockets and walked. These streets hardly seemed to change as the days turned to weeks, the weeks into months and the months into years. It was comforting to have something so stable in her life. That trash can there? Always litter around it like people used it as a basketball goal, but never cared if they missed. At night it would be lit on fire and surrounded by the people who stayed under the bridge. That street light there? They'd replaced the lights with LEDs and someone had taken it upon themselves to shoot at it. The red light had a small splotch of dark dimples that would never light up red and matching holes through the shield around it. Looked like shotgun scatter.

"It wouldn't be a fair fight." She shook her head at him which sent her braid swinging behind her. His words were flattering, but hardly true even if he believed them. "I'm not so proud as to think I could in any way make a good match for you. You're the energizer bunny, Kyle, and I don't think you can turn that part of your power off. Even with my power, I'm just a person. Good as any old mook who goes to the gym." And, having been living at a gym, she could verify that.

Question after question. For every one that Kyle answered, Noel seemed to have two more to take its place, her need to understand no doubt the reason behind the constant questions. Kyle smiled lightly at that; that part of her hadn't changed and it was almost reassuring to have her want to know so much. It implied that she at least cared enough to ask. Her questions were also easy enough to answer, or rather, he could answer them because he knew the answer or could hazard a close enough guess.

"I believe they merely grabbed me on a whim. I wasn't the only mutant grabbed, though I was one of the strongest mutation wise. They might have had prior knowledge of me though; either way, they were well armed and trained. Even if they didn't know my powers beforehand, they learned of them quickly, both in battle and in their study of me after no doubt. As for what they were doing...its mostly a guess, but I believe they were trying to harness a greater version of the mutant gene within me. We saw stocks of M when we fled their facility and there was enough evidence to suggest they were tampering with it."

Kyle shook his head lightly when she asked that last question, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "It's quite alright. Ask your questions and I'll do what I can to answer them. Perhaps in doing so, you'll think of something about them that might give a hint as to where to find them."

It had been a while since Kyle had walked these streets with Noel or even alone, as it were. It was still fresh in his mind the first time he'd encountered her, in that church, and fought her blade with his own, the weapons attached to his suit's wrist guards. She'd been the second real test he'd faced when coming to this city and although he didn't exactly win the fight, he didn't lose either. Much had changed internally about Kyle but his unyielding determination to succeed had not died in that tank. It had merely evolved into something much more fierce.

"That's true enough, but you don't give yourself enough credit. I may be able to fight longer, if I fight a conservative and defensive style of battle, but that doesn't save me against someone who can outfight me from the start. This is not a fight to see who's stronger in the end. Its a fight to become stronger by the end. Each of us can push the other to that next level, that next step. Sure, I can fight longer...but you are faster and more deadly with that blade by far. And your power, in its own right, is a sharper sword than mine can ever be."

Hmmm. After listening to the details, Noel was pretty sure this was something she would need to bring up to Sebastian once he was back in New York. Kidnap pings related to the M drug. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened. It was possible that if they found these people again, they might trace the lines back to someone who mattered in the drug trade. Key word: might.

"So... Practice." Why did she get the impression that practicing with Kyle would leave Noel bruised, broken and sore when he would simply walk away? Noel smeared the strands of hair that had come loose back from her face with her palm. Stupid humidity.

"I just wish there was a way to practice without getting hurt. I can't go full out, no holds barred with you in the morning and then lead an action team that same..." She cut herself off as a thought occurred to her. Cogs started turning in her head so loudly that they could practically be heard from the outside. "Have you ever been to one of those places... I dunno what they're called, I've never been, but they're for the gifted. I saw something in a brochure about the Sanctuary. They called it a safe place to practice your abilities with minimal consequences." That came straight out of the pamphlets she had stacked at the front desk of Faust Pharmaceuticals. Long boring nights manning the security side of the desk meant she had the thing memorized.

"Then we could practice on the same team and use our abilities. What do you think? Ever been to the Sanctuary?" She was pretty sure she had, but didn't remember any context. Would they have to rent the room or something? Couldn't be worse than renting space at a gym.

"Valid point. I sometimes forget that because of my power, what seems to be light exercise to me might as well be a marathon for others. Still, there should be some way for us to spar on a higher level without making it difficult to do other things in the day.

Noel's question gave pause to Kyle's words and thoughts(thankfully not his motor functions). It wasn't that the idea was terrible or anything of the sort. It was actually a good idea that had not occured to him for this matter. What gave pause to him is the questions she phrased after; had he never told her he was currently living in Sanctuary and as such, was aware of the Danger Room within and what uses it held for training?


The possibly was there that he HAD told her, but that memory had managed to get itself lost or erased, as her power was liable to do from time to time. Or he had never told her that he'd made a place for himself there since arriving in the city. Either way, it didn't much change the answer he was about to give.

"It's called a Danger Room; it puts you into a real life scenario without actually putting you in real danger...unless you lower the safety setting. I'm quite familiar with it and Sanctuary. I've been there for a while now.

It's an interesting proposal. And not a bad alternative to my suggestion. I don't see why we can't make use of it. Are you up for visiting the Sanctuary today, if only to get the lay of the land and yourself settled?"