"Is there a mutant in town that you don't know or do you just like to frequent the same places?"

Kaz smiled at her. ”I didn't know you until yesterday, I think that pretty much shows I don't know every mutant in the city. There are more mutants and Hendriksen's than just Thomas and Gwen. I got most of them their jobs there.” Smirking as he looked at her from the corner of his eye, ”It does help that I own the company, not that they know that.” With that little tidbit, Kaz was sure Noel would connect it to what he had said about paying him back a bit.

Kaz was glad for the backup, even though he knew Lyn would believe him when he said they weren't together. Kaz had asked for her help in healing other people before, specifically the Order members after their first brawl with the X-Men at KP. He also knew that Lyn could get jealous, even though the two of them had never been an item.

Lyn quirked her brow at Noel when she spoke of paying for Kaz's healing and why. She listened quietly looking between the two as Noel whispered to Kaz. She heard everything Noel said. Hearing was something Lyn almost always had amplified, it was just too useful. Kaz opened his mouth to tell Noel exactly why what she was saying was a bad idea but was cut off by Lyn. ”That is unfortunate, and I'm sorry to hear it, but you really do not know what you're asking. I suggest that before you offer, you should find out what I'm asking for.”

When Lyn did allude to her price, Noel stepped stepped between her and Kaz. Lyn wondered if there was something between the two of them after all. Lyn smiled as she took Noel's hand, giving the woman a firm grip. The grip was a bit more firm than it needed to be. Instead of letting go of Noel's hand, she altered the flow of her focus from inward to outward, her hand and arm glowing gold as her hand slipped through Noel's

Lyn pursed her full lips and made a 'hmmm'ing sound which sounded a bit disappointed. ”Why don't we move to the back room where we can sit and talk a bit.” She gestured through the beaded curtain as she moved to the front door, turned off the open sign and locked the door before following the two.

When she entered the massage room she saw Kaz sitting on a chair, backwards, arms folded over the top. She moved to the bed and hopped up onto it. Kaz seemed to have been beginning to explain, but Lyn waved her hand at him. ”You're terrible at this Kaz, just shut it for a bit.”

Kaz's mouth hung open for a moment before he blurted, ”Lyn, you're married. And you kissed me! When did you get married?”

Looking at him she laughed sweetly. ”Is that why you looked so star struck? I got married a couple years ago, though Jessica and I have been together for almost five years now. Yes I kissed you, you know it's something I've wanted to do for years. Always wondered if your lips were as soft as I imagined, I'm not disappointed.” Kaz just blinked at her, ”Don't give me that look, Jess and I are married, we have two kids, from two different fathers. We...aren't exactly exclusive, but we don't sleep around either. Enough about that.”

Lyn looked to Noel, ”Hun, the donation I want from Kaz is life, and no, not that sort of life...well, not that I'd be opposed, but his soul, his life energy. That's how I heal people. Usually I use my own and I have a fair bit to use, but I can only use so much. Usually I charge money for my services, but not always. Some people, like Kaz, have a stronger..life essence to them, more potent I guess. I can do more with it, it lasts longer than most other peoples, nearly as much as my own. Even if I wasn't running a bit low myself right now, I'd still ask for a donation from him, so I can store it away for a time when I need to use the reserve.”

The look she gave Noel was almost apologetic, ”I felt yours when my hand went through you. You're..uh..broken a bit. I'd have to look a little more closely, but it...well, your head isn't right. Like his head is right now, but more so. I knew he had gotten hurt when I kissed him. I felt it. If he got hit on the head, then something happened and it's not there anymore, he is hurt all over his body though.”

She spread her hands a bit, ”I can only take so much without hurting a person, and I can't tell exactly how much I could take from you without hurting you. Even though it would only be for a short time, otherwise Kaz would be dead. Your soul, as I like to call it, does refill as you live your life. The more you pack into your days, the more you live, the quicker it happens.”

She folded her hands together in her lap. ”I hope I'm making sense to you hun. I don't usually explain this, but since I knew Kaz would try, and botch it, I figured I might as well. If you would still like to pay for me to heal him, I can do that, and I'll stop as soon as I feel you're at your limit, but you'll feel a bit weak, light headed, hungry, and sleepy. Are you still offering?”

Kaz and Lyn both watched as Noel thought it through, thought about what Lyn had said. Kaz took the opportunity to talk to Lyn. ”Two kids? How old? And no, you aren't getting one from me. Since when can you tell anything about someone's brain?”

Lyn smiled at Kaz as she pointed to a desk off to the side of the room, a double picture frame sat there. One had a picture of Lyn, Jessica, and two kids, a boy and a girl. Jessica was brunette like Lyn, taller and more curvy than Lyn, but not nearly as pretty in Kaz's opinion. The children were quite young and looked close in age. ”Jason is three, and Tanya will be three in a few months. I can do more than I could when we last spoke Kaz, a lot more. You aren't the only one who's changed, grown.” Kaz and Lyn shared a look when she reached over to him and touched his cheek, she didn't respond to his comment about having a kid from him. She would have been elated if he had agreed, but like always, he did not feel the same way about her that she did about him.

When she saw Noel make her decision and nod she motioned for both of them to come close to her. Kaz made sure he was ready to catch Noel if she fell. ”Ready Noel?” Getting another yes, Lyn's arms glowed bright gold. She set one hand on Noel's chest, over her heart, letting it sink into her body so she could feel Noel's life better, her other hand she stuck into Kaz's head past her wrist.

Lyn pulled her hand out of Noel a short few moments later, having taken just enough to fix Kaz's injuries and what had been done to his mind, though she had no idea what could have messed with his brain like that. Noel had just enough to safely take from her and heal Kaz, with a little left over. ”Kaz help her onto the bed please.” Lyn slid off the bed and got out of Kaz's way. ”You're going to sleep like the dead tonight Noel. Eat and don't fight sleep, and you'll be fine.”

Kaz looked at Noel remembering what he had forgotten, what she had erased from him on the rooftop. He knew it had been an accident now, knew what had happened. He wasn't seeing or reliving the memories, it felt to him as if his memory had been jogged, suddenly remembering something that he had simply forgotten about. It was extremely odd to remember what had happened and then remembering what happened after the erasing, and knowing what the erasing had caused, even though there was now nothing erased. And Kaz had to admit, things had probably turned out better because that fiasco had been erased. Kaz's head hurt and he wondered if this was how Noel felt all the time with new memories constantly going into her head.

Kaz pulled his chair up next to the bed to sit next to Noel. ”Lyn, how do you want to do this? Pull and go or stream it?” ”Streaming would probably work best, that way I can work right away, and it will probably help her recover faster that way as well.” Lyn pulled up a tall stool to sit on so she could reach both Noel and Kaz's chests.

Kaz looked to Noel. ”I remember what happened on the roof, what you erased. She might be able to do that for you, maybe get back what you had lost from yesterday. What do you think? Wanna give it a shot?”

> ”You're terrible at this Kaz, just shut it for a bit.”

It was her power. She knew it best. Especially if it'd been 6 years. Noel hated to agree with Lyn, but Kaz had to shut it.

Of course, the more Lyn spoke, the less Noel understood her. What was the point of being married when you had an open relationship? Noel knew she was old fashioned compared to most New Yorkers, but she just didn't get it. And she was at least smart enough not to ask. There was nothing she could say that was not going to make this impulsive healer mad at her.

> " ”Don't give me that look,"

Noel tried very hard not to give her that look. Instead she glanced at Kaz and... yeah. She totally deserved that look. It was Lyn's turn to shut it, the weirdo.

> "..and no, not that sort of life...well, not that I'd be opposed, but his soul, his life energy..."

Yeah. She was getting the look. Noel's brain was starting to hurt. This woman... Noel was pretty sure she could find a different healer. Somewhere. ANYWHERE but here. There was no amount of useful utility that was worth putting up with a lech. Noel itched to take a note on that, but didn't dare risk it just yet. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than she had to.

And then she had the audacity to feel sorry for Noel.

> ”I felt yours when my hand went through you. You're..uh..broken a bit."

Noel snorted from behind the sunglasses and her folded arms. "It's my ability. I get by."

The information that Kaz was hurt "all over his body" was interesting. Noel re-reviewed the fight from his point of view. No. She was pretty sure he had mostly gotten... oh. She slowed the memory of the rooftop down while he thought through moving his hurt around and spreading it out. Huh. That explained it.

> "...Are you still offering?”

They chatted while Noel stewed it over. The answer was yes. She couldn't say no with a clean conscience. But... her soul? She just had to get that straight in her head. No way was it her real, immortal soul. That was probably just the hinky mutant mumbo jumbo Lyn had come up with to explain it to herself. Mutants were always doing that. Her... Noel put her hand to her head as she abruptly came to yet another dead end. She allowed herself a moment to poke at it. She'd known somebody. Somebody explained the power thing to her.

> ”Ready Noel?”

"Yeah." She nodded. Noel wasn't getting anywhere in her own head. It was time to pay up.

Noel had never had someone's hand in her chest before. She'd also never felt quite like Lyn made her feel. "Oh." That one soft word just about summed it up. She felt like a puppet on a string carefully stacked and balanced so that a single thread held all her weight. One wrong tug and she would fall to pieces.

> ”Kaz help her onto the bed please.”

Hadn't they done that already? She opened her mouth to snark something and nothing more than a 'heh' seemed to come out. It was weird. Her brain was okay. Her body was just running extra sluggishly.

"Guess no running tonight." Belatedly, Noel realized that she had ruined her running shoes and run off to buy combat boots. Eff. No running at all until she got new shoes. More problems with her routine. She really had to make a note about that. Her arms were slow to come up and it was hard to focus on her screen. Maybe she would remember?

> "...maybe get back what you had lost from yesterday."

He didn't mean that. Surely he didn't mean that. "You want me to remember everything from yesterday?" Emphasis on the everything. She was talking slower than normal, but pretty proud that she was actually talking with relative normality. "I got the scuffle and our sparring from you already. Anything I stand to get back is... extra."

She would let him decide on that. Noel would not say no to more information. It was why she'd gone looking for it in the first place.

"Go for it, Lyn."

Kaz looked at Noel as she lay on the bed. ”You know if it had been my choice you wouldn't have erased that stuff in the first place. It was the way you got it that..got to me.” He smiled to her, ”Besides, who knows what else you forgot that you might get back.”

Lyn stayed quiet as the two spoke, seeming to her closer than just acquaintances. As she waited her arms had returned to normal, resting them in her lap. Her skin became a few shades brighter, as she released a general healing around her. The omni-directional healing of the level she was emitting wouldn't be enough to do more than stimulate a body's natural healing ability and give it a slight boost in speed and efficiency.

When Noel spoke Lyn's glow ended as she stood. ”Brace yourself.” She looked to Kaz when she spoke, though it was meant for both of them. Arms glowing she placed one hand inside Kaz's chest, near his heart, and the other she placed once again into Noel's chest near her heart. She had felt Noel's injuries when she healed Kaz and knew what to work on first.

Kaz's breath caught in his throat when Lyn drew on his life. She was taking a large amount from him, so much so that there was a visible flow from Kaz through Lyn and into Noel. Lyn's healing began infusing Noel with a glow of her own, concentrated in her torso with a light glow suffusing her limbs. Lyn could feel Noel's ribs mend, felt the natural healing process accelerating, doing in moments what would have taken the woman's body weeks to do. When the ribs were done healing they still showed the signs of being healed, but she would go back before she was finished.

Noel's shoulder came next, finishing the healing that had already begun. The tissues and skin healing leaving only a scar as Lyn turned her attention to the other, more minor, injuries and bruising Noel had. That done Lyn only had two final things to do; Heal the woman's scars, and to try and fix whatever damage had been done to her brain.

Lyn's healing slowed to a trickle when she felt the tattoos, ”What about your tattoos Noel? I can remove them if you'd like.” It was nothing special for Lyn, tattoo removal was one of the services she provided, and since she was already healing the woman, there was no reason why she could remove them if Noel wished it. It was actually a very simple thing to do, something she thought modern medical science should be able to do with little trouble.

Lyn found more than a few scars, more than she would have thought a woman like Noel would have. As she went about removing the scars, she suddenly jerked in surprise. Her healing stopped for a few moments as she looked at Noel with wide eyes. The woman bore a few scars that were very strange to Lyn. When she touched them with her power she felt what she could only vaguely define as 'pain'. She couldn't figure out any other way to describe it. There was no source or physical reason for the sensation. It was the first time she had ever encountered anything like it, it was also the first time she ever had to direct her power way from a wound. Lyn's residual healing would increase Noel's body's ability to make the scars fade away naturally, but Lyn could not touch them directly. Touching the scars, the lapse in healing, and Lyn's uncomfortable, confused expression lasted only moments.

Lyn's arm and hand seemed to be in two places for a few moments as she moved her attention from Noel's body to her mind. She didn't have to have her hand in or touching Noel's head to heal her, just like she didn't need to have her hand in a person's chest near their heart, but it did help Lyn focus. When Lyn's hand was in Noel's head, the glowing from Noel's body stopped.

Lyn couldn't tell exactly what had happened or what was wrong with Noel's mind, but she could feel the damage. It wasn't the damage someone would sustain from a blow to the head or from suffocation, but it was distinct and obvious. Anything to do with the brain was delicate work so she took it slow, letting her power, Kaz's life, fill Noel's mind, repairing the damage. She started with what she felt was newest. There was no true way for her to know what was new or old, but what she thought of as 'old' felt similar to what scar tissue felt like when it had had years to heal.

It felt to Lyn like water going through a pinched hose, a hose that was forced wider and wider from restrained water pressure. As soon as she felt the pinch loosen and go away she moved on. She was so focused on what she was doing, her eyes shutting out the world, that she didn't hear Noel begin to make pained sounds. ”Lyn?...Lyn, she's bleeding.”

Lyn felt Kaz move a bit, pulling her from her trance a little. With her concentration less focused, she felt it, felt what was happening to Noel. She stopped it and continued her work. 'God, what happened to this girl? There's so much damage' Now Lyn knew why Noel had felt broken, her brain was a mess, it felt so scrambled. She was so damaged that healing it was causing Noel more physical damage that Lyn had to fix.

**PAIN!**

Lyn's eyes snapped open as she fell to the ground. There was no time to catch herself as she fell, landing hard on her side. When she looked up and around, her head swimming a little, she saw Kaz standing over Noel, speaking to her. Lyn's head was ringing too loudly to hear what he said. ”What? What happened?” A quick burst of power and she healed the damage to her body.

Kaz had a hand on top of Noel's head, ”Noel, you okay?” He looked at Lyn as she stood up. ”Sorry about that. When you didn't respond or stop when I told you to...I uh, well, the only thing I could think of was...to slap you. The first one didn't work, so I hit you harder. Sorry.”

Lyn blinked. He had told her to stop? Why? Something had to have happened, something she hadn't been aware of. She rubbed her cheek even though there was no more pain. Lyn realized she must have gotten too focused, gone too deep into work, trying to help Noel as much as she could. ”Oh, it's fine. I'm fine. What happened?” She looked from Kaz to Noel.

He smiled at her. Noel was pretty sure he couldn't mean the smile unless it really was the way that she had gained the information instead of the actual information. So... what? Because she had taken it latent-ly instead of directly?

You didn't give him enough credit the first time was her advice to herself in that note. Trust.

Okay then. Noel breathed. "Yeah. Okay. Try for some mental healing then. I don't know what good it'll do." She typically didn't touch the things she'd cut off because of the headaches. Adapteds, too, were a huge pain for her brain so Noel was anticipating exactly zero good feelings from it, but there was potential benefit even if there might be pain.

Lyn did the thing where her hand was on top of and then went right on through Noel's chest. A bubble of worry surfaced, but it didn't feel like last time. Lyn wasn't taking Noel's energy this time. Noel was receiving.

The ribs, the cut, the back of the head, all the things Noel knew to check for were all wiped away in a wash of glowing good feeling.

> ”What about your tattoos Noel?"

The memorymancer indicated that her list of names, all of which were crossed off could go. She would prefer to keep the notes about avoiding dating married men and betrayal, though. They were worth keeping in mind. Now she had room for that tattoo she and Kaz had discussed. What was it? Something about getting things done not always lining up with what was good? She had a note on her phone she could check later.

Lyn's sudden movement made Noel's heart stutter. She felt the telltale signs of the attack start to trigger for her and tried her best to squash them before the symptoms realized. "That's an artifact of mutant interaction." She squeezed the words out through gritted teeth. Sheesh. Would everyone just stop touching her scars? "Leave it. Please."

Laying down, it was terribly obvious to Noel how much her breathing had accelerated when she could see her chest rise and fall. Her hands opened and closed around nothing. How did one fight her own physiological response? Noel knew she needed to work through that one day. She didn't like that she had a place on her body that was almost a guaranteed shut down switch.

Luckily Lyn seemed hesitant to push through the healing there. She left it alone and finally the glow in Noel's body started to fade.

Noel hadn't even caught her breath by the time Lyn swapped her hand from Noel's chest to Noel's head. The whole ordeal was interesting to watch. Kaz was there, being harvested for his glow, and Lyn was like a beacon between them managing that flow of life. Would Kaz need to sleep it off just as hard?

It felt okay at first, the brain healing. The process lured Noel into a false sense of security. Maybe Lyn's crazy would be okay to deal with if she could return memories in a gentle way? Her head felt stretched and abused, but not torn, like an adapted would leave her. The result of that stretching was a host of new information and that came through in a trickle at first. Where Noel had been watching Kaz a moment ago, now her eyes glazed over in order to review the images that came through.

The first things were Kaz's memories. The stuff about the psychics. It wasn't pleasant to digest, but it was telling. The spine she'd seen in her dream. Nicki. And it didn't stop. Years of being trapped under control. There was Orlando. No. Roland. He had cut her and now she could see his face, but he wasn't the one who had hurt her for her power. She'd assumed that because his hurt was context-less in the sea of her memory. She'd just been doing her job. It was—

"Ssstop." She croaked the word and meant to move or roll or anything and felt an infinitesimal amount of pressure being applied to the already building dam of pressure in her head. "Hng!" Her hands balled into fists and Noel's chest arced up from the table. But her head and neck wouldn't move.

>”Lyn?...Lyn, she's bleeding.”

She couldn't see the room with Lyn and Kaz and the bed and the small table and the ceiling. She could see something vague and growing clearer. A woman behind a desk was fidgeting and asking for her gun. Noel felt a flush of old anger.

"Stopstopstop." She was panting and breathing the words in time with her hammering heart. Blood was streaming from one of her nostrils. The first warning that the pressure in her head would have physical ramifications. Tears streamed from the corners of her unseeing eyes. It wasn't exactly like when her head felt too full. It was like Lyn was scraping around on the inside of her skull and all the disjointed shavings were filling the space that she usually kept tidy and organized.

She saw a desk. A suit. An ankle pouch.

A loud smacking sound made Noel jump. She found that she could jump.

Something warm and thankfully solid touched her head and she jumped again even though the touch was tender. She hadn't been expecting it to be gentle. The image in her head was fading. A man in a white coat. She was alone. She was abandoned. They'd used her and discarded her.

> ”Noel, you okay?”

It was Kaz's hand on her head in the here and now. Roland might have hurt her physically, but it was the people who'd used her against others that she was really afraid of.

"Yeah." The word was no more than air, but it was enough to make her mouth water in disgust. Noel frowned and wiped at her nose as she tried to shut down the stream of imagery so that she could see the here and now. Were her glasses on? She fumbled blindly to check. "Overload. I can't process it all."

Kaz let out a sigh of relief as moved his hand from her head and touched her shoulder. ”Good. I was worried there for a moment.” He looked around for a moment before moving towards a chair. He seemed a little unsteady as he shuffled towards it. When he moved to sit down he missed the chair completely and fell on the floor. He was able to keep himself from completely sprawling out on the floor in a terribly undignified fashion, but just barely. After a moment, and with quite a bit of effort, he dragged himself to the wall and propped his back against it.

Kaz looked like crap. His skin was paler than usual, dark bags hung from his half lidded eyes, his breathing was shallow and labored. He could feel his slowed pulse, the lethargy in his limbs. Even the tips of his ears seemed to droop just a bit. His usually bright red eyes were dull and sluggish as he watched Lyn leave the room, only to return a few moments later with a few bottles of water and wrapped energy bars of some sort. She set one of each near Noel and gave the rest to Kaz.

Lyn opened the water and held it to Kaz's lips when she saw the trembling in his arm. ”I'm sorry Kaz, Noel. I...I was so focused on doing everything I could to undo the damage that I lost touch with everything else.” Unwrapping one of the bars, she held it as Kaz took a large bite from it, chewing slowly. Kaz shook his head, ”Izz'ok, jus need 'o sit.” Kaz swallowed the food down with the rest of the bottled water and looked toward Noel. ”On the bright side,” His words came out slower than normal, having to think about them and make his mouth and tongue form the correct sounds, ”It worked, didn't it.” Despite how thrashed he felt, there was a smile in his voice. ”You doing okay Noel? Like really okay, not'jus sayin ya are 'n wha'not.” He looked at Lyn, ”I need pills, my head is killin me.” He also needed a dark, silent room, but he doubted that would happen anytime soon.

”I'll get you some, be right back.” Lyn got up to leave the room, but spoke to Noel before she did, ”Don't try to move too much yet. Your body and...is stressed, just, relax for a bit, okay?” There was a bit of sadness in her face, guilt from hurting Noel though she was trying to help her. If Noel was mad at her, or didn't trust her after what happened, Lyn wouldn't blame her. She turned and left the room to get some pills and a couple of small pillows to put behind Kaz's back and head.

Huffing out a little laugh, ”Well, that was...fun.” If his brain weren't as fuzzy as it was, if it weren't throbbing so much, he might not have said what he did next. ”You know what sounds great right about now? Sleep. My bed is so comfy, I'm sure you'd enjoy it.” Kaz was grinning like an idiot, the words spoken without realizing what he had actually said. It was probably all ruined as he pressed his palm to the side of his head.

> ”Good. I was worried there for a moment.”

"Me too." She croaked the words and let her arm fall over her eyes over the sunglasses. There. She was taking no chances. The stumbling sound also made her jump. She could hardly stand being stuck in this tangle of memories. It was disorienting.

> ”I'm sorry Kaz, Noel."

Lyn really was, not that Noel doubted her. The tone was convincing. It was, however, not okay like Kaz said it was. Maybe once she got her vision back she would feel more magnanimous. She couldn't scrub through these long term memories. She could speed through Kaz's and the other foreign memories but the things she'd recovered from her own memory were running as slow as they'd happened. They were disjointed, jumping from scene to scene without rhyme or reason. High action to a slow morning eating cereal. A run in the park where'd she'd twisted an ankle.

> ”On the bright side... It worked, didn't it.”

The words from the here and now surprised her, drawing her out of the auditory part of the memory she'd been listening in to. At least she didn't jump this time. "Yeah. I remember." And she didn't sound terribly happy about it. "Why do you always sound so cheerful when you're hurt?" He'd done that on the rooftop too. That was not a memory she could scrub through, but she remembered and that was playing through now. His goofy cheer was disconcerting. Maybe it was better than her grump, though.

Where was Lyn? Noel hadn't tracked her that well. The memorymancer was trying to weigh how stubbornly she wanted to get out versus how badly she felt. Stubborn escape was fast climbing her list.

> ”You doing okay Noel?"

"I'll live. Overall better off except my head. I'll have to remember to skip that next time around." Assuming there was one. And since Kaz addressed Lyn, she had to still be around. Noel listened this time and made sure she pushed herself up to a sitting position only after the woman was gone. Despite Lyn's concern, Noel wasn't about to just lay around.

"I don't guess you've let her heal your head."

She took a time out to hold her head in her hands for a minute. And maybe just rest her eyes a little. Breathe in. Breathe out. The more she could get from the here and now, the more she could hypothetically push out the memories that she couldn't seem to shut off right now. Noel tapped around with her hands until she bumped into the things Lyn had set nearby. A water bottle. Water helped.

>”Well, that was...fun. You know what sounds great right about now? Sleep. My bed is so comfy, I'm sure you'd enjoy it.”

"God that sounds amazing." The bed she was already on was so inviting. Just because it was, she made herself slide so that her feet were touching the ground. She wasn't standing, but it was at least movement in the right direction. "Don't tempt me. I have to get back. I have already screwed up my routine so bad. Tomorrow's going to be terrible." Noel took another moment with head in hands to get past a particularly absorbing memory.

It occurred to Noel belatedly that Kaz sounded almost drunk. Was she that bad off?

"You take the bed here. Don't give Lyn any more "donations" for a while, okay?" And if he was taking the bed here, she should probably go.

”Why? Well..” He wasn't exactly sure how to answer her. Kaz didn't think he was overly cheerful or even wrong to be a little. ”hgn...I don't think I am, not really. If I were to guess it would be because I'm not grievously injured, I'm not in any immediate or imminent danger, and I'm not fighting to survive or escape. So why should I be upset?” Kaz didn't think it was a big deal or anything special, but Noel apparently thought it was odd enough to mention. ”Does that bother you?”

"I don't guess you've let her heal your head."

”I've had a few good smacks against it 'n cracks in my head, she's patched'em up in the past, if that's what'ya mean. She wasn't this good back then.” Kaz wondered if she had believed him when he had said he remembered what she had erased. ”I do remember Noel, she did do...someth'n to fix that. Before she started healing you, I felt like...like I had been starin' at a book or screen for too long or someth'n. But that was it, didn't have my head leak like you did.”

'”..Sounds amazing.”' Kaz quirked a brow at Noel. Was she actually agreeing? She didn't seem like she was upset, disgusted, or annoyed at what he said, even if what he had said had been blurted out without going through his speech filter. Had he really meant what he had said? Yes and no he decided. She wasn't unattractive and while he didn't know her well, what he did know about her he liked.

His private musings about the situation were interrupted when she spoke again, shooting his offer down. Kaz found himself frowning a little. He hadn't expected her to jump at the words, he hadn't even thought them through before speaking, yet, he found himself a little disappointed. ”Don't tempt me.” Or had she? Her words rolled around in his head. She didn't say no, but they didn't seem like a 'give me a reason/more intensive' either. Should he try, push a little bit more? Did he want to? As much as he liked his solitude, he had enjoyed her company, when they hadn't been..been what? They didn't fight really, it hadn't even been an argument or a misunderstanding or anything like that. They hadn't mixed well.

Yes, he decided, he did like the idea of her going back with him. He did want her company. If something happened, and he wasn't sure if wanted that, then it happened, and if not, at least he wouldn't be alone.

She spoke again, speaking as if she were leaving. When he actually looked, that seemed to be exactly what she was preparing to do. He looked from her to the bed with a dubious expression. ”Yeah...I dunno. I think I'd prefer my expansive, ridiculously comfortable bed with its 5000 thread sheets and large, soft pillows. Not to mention the home cooked food, prepared in a kitchen a five star chef would envy.” He tilted his head back as he continued speaking, ”Sit in the hot-tub and relax after a swim in the pool.” His words trailed off towards the end as he thought about doing what he said.

With a bit of effort, and only a slight wobble, Kaz got to his feet and moved to Lyn's little desk. He saw a memo pad and snagged it and a pen. In a quick, elegant hand, he wrote his name and number, pulled the paper from the pad. He held the pad and pen out to Noel. ”If you insist on leaving...It would probably be useful to get your number.” He held the paper with his number on it between two fingers, ready to give to her when he got hers.

”Ya might as well take the limo if you're gonna leave, there's a cloth bag in there for ya anyway. The things I grabbed before we left.” He had slipped a few sets of escrima sticks in the bag, two wood sets, one 2ft long set, and the other was a 1.5ft long set. Besides the wood ones was a collapsible 2ft steel escrima set. The last thing he had slipped into the bag was a set of collapsible steel shock batons.

Ah. "Nooo." Noel tipped back onto the bed and squirmed. "I said don't tempt me, not—" She stopped mid sentence and frowned, a small crease forming between her as another memory drew her attention. She was talking with someone at the front door of a hotel. A goodbye of sorts. She got drawn in because of the wash of accompanying emotion. The memory was incredibly unhappy. And that was directly conflicting with how she currently felt. She usually tried to keep pretty level so the dichotomy between then and now was enough to stop Noel mid-sentence.

"No. Not need. I can't need anything... There's no guarantee it'll be there tomorrow. I live in a world where things are constantly being taken away: memories, friends, co-workers, even something as simple as thinking something is in one place only to find it's been moved. Nothing is for sure enough to rely on."

She shut her mouth stupidly and tried to tune out the rest of it.

'Jesus, isn't that the truth.' Her head felt like a melon that was only cracked and someone was pulling as hard as they could on either side so that eventually it would rip in half. She was pretty sure her head would not rip in half. Pretty sure was not 100% sure.

What had they been talking about? Oh. Noel sighed through a memory of a lonely Thanksgiving. "Hot tub." Kaz had one of those. She heaved yet another sigh as she mentally talked herself around to doing the right thing.

>”If you insist on leaving...It would probably be useful to get your number.”

Noel jumped as she swung her legs back over the edge of the bed. She hadn't tracked him and his voice just wasn't where she'd expected it to be. And as she righted herself, her shoulder bumped into something. Noel waved her hand around until she caught it. A pad of paper? What had he said?

"Uh." That was partial confusion, partial disgusted sigh. There was no way that she could pretend that she could see the things in this room now. "My number is in my phone, but I can't exactly see it... right now." And it wouldn't unlock without her holding it. She at least knew that much.

Noel lowered the volume of her voice, even her own talking was making her head throb. "To review a memory... to see the visuals... I mean, I can't see both here and all the stuff Lyn opened up and I can't seem to stop it. Or make it go any faster. Or make a whole lot of chronological sense." She had barely enough control to block out the auditory stuff half the time.

'Ha!' Kaz exclaimed in his head as Noel flopped back onto the bed. Outwardly he smiled. She was intent on going home but it seemed her determination to do so wasn't great. Kaz found himself wondering why she wanted to go home so much, and what going home had anything to do with a routine. Sure there were things people did if not every day, than most days, and that was their routine. Routines got messed up all the time for people, when life interferes, but that didn't usually make the person's life, or day terrible. Did she really think tomorrow would be that bad for her, or was she exaggerating?

Kaz opened his mouth to ask about that since she had trailed off, but then she spoke two words, ”Hot tub.” He smirked. It almost sounded like a nail being driven into a coffin, as if she were almost ready to give in.

But she had said she wanted to go home, so he wouldn't push, despite what he wanted.

When she basically flailed around trying to find and grab the pad and pen Kaz looked at Noel with a 'You've got to be kidding me' look. And then she confirmed it, telling him what was going on, telling him more about herself and her ability and what it forces on her.

”Hgmm.. So, let me get this straight. You're effectively blind right now, and distracted by what's going on in your head. And yet, you were going to try and leave here and get back home. By yourself.” His tone was flat while also sounding like a verbal facepalm. ”Not to..ya know... I gotta say, that does not sound like the smartest or most well thought out plan.”

Kaz rubbed his head, ruffling his hair in the process. ”Is there a reason you need to go home right now, or even today? If this is going to last a while...” He paused just enough so it was apparent he was asking if she knew the answer, ”Wouldn't it be a good idea not to be alone? Just in case something happens or you need something.” He wasn't exactly sure why he said that, why he had assumed she would be alone. He couldn't remember if she had mentioned anyone else at her place or not, or if it was just his own guess.

Feeling a little unsteady as he stood in front of Noel, Kaz moved to sit next to her. ”I see this turning out one of three ways. One: You and I get in the limo and I help you get to your place. Two: If you don't want me to know where you live, I help you to the limo, the driver takes you home and helps you inside. You don't need to worry about him telling me where you live, there's a reason I called that company. They know the value of privacy.”

Kaz leaned back, resting his weight on his arms. ”Three: You come back with me. Relax in the hot tub,” Kaz smirked at her, without looking in her direction, ”Take it easy for the rest of the day, enjoy the awesome bed... And tomorrow, whenever you feel like it, when you can see what you're doing and not accidentally walk into incoming traffic, you can head home.” If she chose the first or third option they could stop by the Park and transfer to his Hummer, if she chose the second, he'd have to get himself to the vehicle himself, something that didn't sound very pleasant at the moment.

Of course she could choose option four: Dismiss options 1-3 and leave by herself. That choice though would become option three. He was not going to let her, in her current condition, leave by herself. If something happened, and he had a feeling something would happen, it was just too good of a setup for something not to happen, he'd feel guilty. Kaz was all for people making their own choices and doing what they wanted to do, for the most part at least, but sometimes, stupid choices could not be allowed and the freedom of choice needs to be taken from that person.

Noel knew herself and the situation she was in, she did not seem stupid to Kaz. He couldn't actual believe that she would choose the unspoken fourth option.

"I do it all the time." She tried to dismiss his fears, but, well, she couldn't lie without making a face. "It's not... I can usually come out of it." Absolved of that lie, Noel put her head in her hands. As if that ever helped her headaches.

"Not to split hairs, but it's not my home. I'm in a safe house since it's partially my boss' fault that some bad people trashed my apartment." At least, Hades was temporarily her boss. Besides, she hadn't really felt like any place was home in a while.

Kaz took a seat next to her. His tone was clear, he cared enough to expect an answer.

The mention of hair brought up a memory about a not so lonely Thanksgiving. She wasn't sure why until some brat stuck gum in her hair.

"I'm already in flux with my jobs and now my place. I have to stay there until I get this sorted and I have to follow my phone and my routine."

And then another child offered to fix it. Apparently she'd had long "princess hair" for a couple years now. All because some kid thought it was pretty.

>”I see this turning out one of three ways."

She tuned in and out between the Thanksgiving memory and her options as outlined by Kaz. Yeah. He didn't have a stake on her. She was going to do what she was going to do whether he liked it or not.

It was more than just the kid who'd liked the hair. It was old guys and young guys. Noel was disgusted at how pleased she'd felt. How... pretty, she'd felt. She wanted to detour and chop it all off right this second.

> ”Three: You come back with me. Relax in the hot tub,”

Nooooo. He was tempting her to shirk her responsibilities. It was very much a rich guy without a worry in the world kind of thing to say. She both wanted it and wanted to hit him for suggesting it again. "My phone said I have some girl scout thing tonight." Unless that was a prank from Panu. Oh! She could always say she forgot! Except for the lying and the not knowing who to tell part of that, it was a solid excuse... aaaand it went against nearly everything she believed in.

Noel wished she could shoot Panu a message to ask.

"So I have responsibilities and I have to get this to stop before then." She was sounding less sure now, but she'd already started in on the idea of going back to the safe house.

Only, what had that moral code gotten her lately? Fired? She couldn't say that she hadn't been trying to step out of those constraints lately. That was how she'd gotten the job with Hades.

> "...when you can see what you're doing and not accidentally walk into incoming traffic, you can head home.”

That started a whole new memory. Something that felt like it was so far gone that it hadn't come all the way back. Noel was absorbed for a time, horrified by what she was seeing.

She had to go home. She wanted to be with things that were hers and know who she was and find the core of herself. But the apartment was a no go. She hardly had anything at Hades' safe house. Just the few items she'd managed to shove into a bag on the way out her shotgun blasted door.

"I think I need to be by myself." She needed to run and sort this information out. Except even that wasn't an option. Noel felt like she was coming apart at the seams.

If Noel could see Kaz's expression, she would see the disappointment clearly. She would also see the concern in his eyes. Even if she liked the idea of what he offered, and he got the impression she did, she seemed to have made up her mind. She was going to head back to the 'safe house'. Listening to her he couldn't help but get the impression she didn't like the situation she was in.

If she really relied on her phone as much as she implied, Kaz knew it was because of her chronic memory loss. For now the safe house was just a place for her to crash and spend time. Maybe he was reading into it more than he should, but the way she said it, ”..not my home.” It sounded like she didn't want to be there, maybe a little resentful that she was.

He considered telling her about the Estates, offering her a place there, one she could call her own, one where no one would or could prance in and ruin. He didn't. He had already been pushy enough. Even if all he wanted to do was help, she might not take it that way.

”I think I need to be by myself.”

That was that, her mind made up. He noticed that she didn't mention any of the options he had laid out. ”If that's your decision, okay. Would you take the car at least? I would rather not find out you got into an accident.”

”Before you go..Would you mind if I entered my number and such into your phone?”

If the Contacts had a Note section, he'd write something in there about himself, something like, 'Rich Elf guy. Escrima. Bird Hunter target. Trust is BFD.' If she erased her memories again, he'd like her to still have some idea of him, even if the note wasn't much to go by. Kaz decided he'd enter the Estates' office number and a short note about it as well, something she could find later in its own Contact.

Kaz stood up slowly, took the pad and pen from Noel and replaced them on the desk. ”If you won't let me treat you, at least let me help you out of the store so I can feel a little bit like a gentleman.” He brushed his hand against hers, his palm facing up.

As they headed out Kaz saw Lyn leaning against the wall of her back room. She smiled and gave him a little wave. He returned the wave realizing that Lyn must have stayed out when he and Noel had actually begun to talk. Once they exited the store Kaz opened the limo's door and grabbed the bag, ”If something happens, or you need anything, give me a call.” He pressed the bag to her hand.

If she skipped the car, he wouldn't force her hand. No, he decided to respect her decision, but that wouldn't stop him from following her to make sure she got where she was going safely. He hated feeling the way he did, he felt like Noel's current condition was his fault. If something happened, he would be guilty.

Noel handed over her phone when asked. Someone had to fill in the details. "Go for it. A picture too. If you can." He could even pull it from his official website, assuming he had one. Noel was pretty sure that after a certain net worth, it was like mandatory.

The short tapping silence let her sit through a little more of this crazy forced mind's theater.

"I'll take the car." She conceded that much. It wasn't exactly a hardship. She did feel guilty, though. These memories were showing her a different person. Noel didn't think she'd changed that much over the years, but she had. She'd changed a lot.

"Hey." She caught his hand and held on for dear life. Right now she was feeling really lost and he was only helping. "Thank you."

She'd wanted to ask him if he was a gentleman. Or if he'd be a gentleman to her if she'd been "only" a human. She was pretty sure she knew the answer there. At least he had really been a gentleman to her the whole time. The flourish on the roof top. The door openings. The clothes. He was careful with how he handled her.

But she wouldn't be forgetting that those same hands had pulled a spine out of someone. She also tried not to forget that he'd sounded drunk or similarly wasted. So wasted that Lyn had to help him. He fell. She'd heard that much.

> ”If something happens, or you need anything, give me a call.”

"I'll try to keep that in mind." And try not to smirk at the idea. He gave her something else as he tucked her into the vehicle. Noel held onto the bag for only a beat before she had to ask. "Kaz, can I...? You handled this." Even now, she wanted permission to use her power.