Ah Geez. He laughed and all, but that was a whole lot blood rushing to his face. Noel didn't want to end a friendship or heaven forbid a friendship with benefits just because she didn't remember it.

She also didn't just want to deflect. He gave her a nice complement. Nice wasn't an everyday thing around this city. "It's nice to hear, though- The ah- the bit about being the same person. I kinda wonder some times." Tattoos and notes weren't always enough.

Somehow, she'd managed to drain her cup. Noel went to get a refill.

"You don't uh-like what you have?" It was the pizza slinger from behind the counter, back to giving her grief. Noel was pretty sure he wasn't talking about the empty cup she'd handed him. Noel glanced over her shoulder at Phil.

"Oh, he's not mine. We're just friends."

"Pah. Just friends. Don't make me wait until I'm too old to have grandbabies, okay? Okay."

Well. Now that he'd decided and now that Noel had her refill in hand, apparently the brunette was dismissed.

Noel set her drink on the table and unbuttoned her collared shirt. Since this wasn't business and since it was incredibly hot next to those pizza ovens, she figured it was better to shrug out of the extra material.

She settled back into her chair, this time with her tattoos uncovered. Ty's name was still featured on her list of people that she could trust, only now it had a line through it. Beneath her very short list, Noel had a tattoo that would be new to Ty, but old enough to have healed completely. Everyone will betray you eventually.

"You got anything else planned for today, Phil?"

"I think we all wonder that, every now and then," Ty murmured softly, then sighed to himself after she'd went to get her refill. This is what it'd come to. He was such a horrible person that he had to be someone else just to maintain a friendship. When she settled back into her seat, he caught sight of her tattoos. Part of him wanted to cry, but the other was sort of thankful he was 'Phil' right now. And the new tattoo didn't help matters very much.

No, he was still the same Ty. It was another classic example of his good intentions biting him in the end. It was because he was too weak. Too useless to maintain anything worth keeping. But not anymore. Starting now, he was going to step up.

"Not really," he finally said, his voice cracking; his throat was suddenly very dry, which he chased with soda. "Today's pretty much open; I'm just taking everything as it comes along at this point," he said with a small nod. Hopefully his cover was still holding up okay...if not, then today could turn sour really quickly.

Mmm. Pizza. Noel picked at the cheesey, gooey mess until she could pluck bits to pop into her mouth. She was still processing what the pizza guy had said. Babies. That would be... not a brilliant idea.

"Oh, are you getting the ragweed thing?" Because his voice was sounding a bit reedy. Maybe cracking a little? Phlegm had a tendency to do that. "This year it's been terrible." Noel wrinkled her nose. That about summed up how she felt about allergies.

"If you wanna hang out, I'm down. My schedule's a lot more free since I guess I'm freelancing now." Super Spy phone, flexible hours, and a new apartment all for the low, low price of swiss cheese memory and potential bodily harm! What a steal!

"I'll be fine," Ty finally replied. "Just a little choked up." Again, it wasn't a lie; to this point it was all true, he was just being very careful as to how much information he gave out. And, the longer it went, the harder he found it. But he couldn't bring himself to bow out. She was the only friend he had right now, and...the time together felt good.

"Hanging out would be nice," he said softly. Being with her brought back memories; good, bad and otherwise, but he was clinging to the good ones. Was this going to end badly? Probably, but he didn't care.

Ty never cared about things like this, he rarely thought things through. But wasn't this how he usually got in these stupid messes? (Like the one he was in now for having fled to freaking Kansas?) Yep. But some things never changed.

"I kinda wanna go to the park. I've always loved just enjoying the small percentage of the city that's nature, ya know?" He cracked a grin, bringing his mind back to the happy thoughts and memories, instead of the part where he abandoned everyone he loved. Even if he did it to save them, it seemed...wrong now. Like maybe it would have been easier on them if he'd just let Faust kill him...

Choked up? Noel searched his face. Downturned corners to his mouth. Extra moisture in the eyes. Tight lips. Drawn eyebrows. But why? She left to go get her refill, she came right back. He sorta looked... ill? Or constipated? Oh God. What if he was terminally ill? What if he arranged this meet so he could tell her that he was dying?

"Phil." She put her hand over his on top of the table and leaned in with clear concern. "It's not cancer is it?" She was fully aware that it was unfair of her to ask so blunty, but inquiring minds needed to know.

The only people who went to the park were people in medicine commercials or people who wanted to exercise. Or kids. Or old people. Okay. People went to the park, just not normal people with jobs and a schedule.

Noel sighed. "Park sounds great. Whatever you need."

Ty blinked when she called him by name alias, then looked at her sideways when she posed the question. "Cancer? Oh no, it's nothing like that." Well, his guilt was eating him alive, much like a cancer, but...

"I've just got some things on my mind. Personal issues I'm having to deal with...nothing health related; no cancer."

As far as the park...Ty just loved the park. It was quiet; it was the only piece of nature in New York City, really. And it was where he honed his craft as a pickpocket. It was a very sentimental location for him.

"Yeah, I just enjoy walking through the park. A nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city, without having to leave the city." Ty chuckled, then murmured, perhaps too loudly...

"I thought I'd have gotten enough of nature in Kansas..."

Nothing like that? Noel arched her eyebrow because as much as maybe he wanted it not to be at all like cancer, something was triggering her taste buds. It tasted like something that'd been left out uncovered in the fridge. It just tasted like... well, like it had a lot of ooky baggage.

> "I've just got some things on my mind..."

Yeah. Clearly. Noel let him have his hand back. Hand holding was for the dying. Not to casual friends who were just talking about going to a park. "Outside's a great option. A little sun can do wonders for your happiness. Uh. Assuming you don't burn." Noel was the kind of tan that just faded or glowed based on the season, sunscreen be damned.

She scarfed her pizza. Phil needed sunlight and happiness, stat.

> "I thought I'd have gotten enough of nature in Kansas..."

"No such thing." She was pretty used to filtering past the memories associated with her food now. She always went as far back as the remembering allowed. Back to wheat growing in the dirt, tomatoes in the sunlight, cheese in the... cows.

Noel coughed and grabbed a napkin.

"There's just a magical smell that comes with a nice green space. Probably that's why New Yorkers so carefully cultivate and protect what little we have." And along those lines, Noel was pretty much ready to go. She slurped on her soda again.

"Oh, I get sunburn, bad. I'll fry under a fluorescent light, but right now, I'd call it a step up," Ty replied with a small chuckle as he finished his pizza and his drink. "True. There's just something about nature that helps one feel better."

Giving her a soft smile, he stood to his feet, leading the way outside. He took another breath of fresh air, his mind wandering to the not-so-pleasant things that had been haunting him to this point.

He thought about all the people he'd hurt despite thinking he was saving them at the time. Especially Noel, at this point, since she was the only one he'd run into so far. It was obvious to him that she knew something was up, but couldn't pinpoint what, exactly. Granted, it was her not remembering that made this possible. Otherwise, she'd probably never want to see him.

He wanted to tell her he was sorry. He wanted to explain everything. But he couldn't. Not now. Maybe not ever...

She snorted. Well, yeah. He was a ginger and it didn't look like he was the kind of ginger that came from a bottle. "Okay, buddy. C'mon. Let's get you some sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. 'Cept I'm all outta the last two." Noel escorted her pal Phil to the pizzaria door as she tried to pinpoint where they were exactly and how they could get to a park.

She glanced between her phone and the streets, fiddled with her phone, and finally figured it out. "Not terribly far, looks like. There's one thataway." Noel turned her phone to the side to line up their view and pointed down one way. "That one's walking distance. The other one... is..."

Scroll, swipe, swipe, and then another point. "There's one a couple more blocks that way. Smaller. More private looking, but it's totally a longer walk." Of course, they were well fueled. She could stand to walk a little pizza off those hips.

"See?" She showed him her screen.

Ty chuckled, somewhat thankful Noel wasn't really the type to pry. He just...felt bad for what he'd done, and worse for what he was having to do now to make up for what he'd done in the first place. First he leaves her, now he's taking advantage of her...This is why he'd left in the first place; he was just too weak. Not strong enough to handle it on his own.

I'm gonna make it through this, regardless. And I'll be damned if I lose the one friend I have in the process. If this is what it takes..this is what it takes.

"Yeah, the smaller, more private one sounds nice. Even if it is more of a walk. I can handle it if you can," he teased, giving her a playful wink as he started walking.

Man, his mind was a roller coaster today. One minute he was up, then he was down, then he didn't know which way he was...

"Sure." Phil was... complicated. Noel shrugged back into her button up and jogged to catch up.

"So, you mentioned leaving but it was complicated." Noel checked for messages, glad when she saw none from her mysterious new boss, and stuffed the phone back into her pocket. "You came back and we're catching up, but I don't really feel like I got much out of you." Other than the complications and the weird feeling that she was maybe sorta getting hit on. At least, pizza guy thought they belonged together based on what he'd seen. So she couldn't have been that crazy.

"Not an accusation, by the way, just an observation: you're kinda emotional right now and I feel like I'm way out of my depth. What's eating you? C'mon. We're either friends or we're not so spill." She wrinkled her nose at that. No wonder they hadn't worked out. The kind of mental gymnastics that went along with relationships, romantic or not, was flipping exhausting.

Ty sighed; she was so direct, and that made it hard to lie and not be detected. Besides, this was so...horrible. He wanted to punch himself for even doing this in the first place.

"I can't do this anymore, anyway. You want me to cut the crap? Fine, I do too..." he said, his voice shaking a little as he leaned against a wall.

"A year ago. It was supposed to be a simple job. I break in, steal some important information, get out, and get paid. End of story. Only, it wasn't that simple. In the process, I got caught. Almost as if they were expecting me. Parts of it are a blur to this day, but I distinctly remember the ones I love most being threatened. So...to save them...I ran away. Didn't tell anyone where I was going. I laid low in Kansas for until a few days ago. I came back...to make things right...By the way...I'm not Phil..." his voice trailed off, as he felt his entire body shaking with adrenaline and fear at this point.

"It's Ty...Ty Fisher."

Whatever was eating Phil was bad enough that they had to stop and let him take a breather. Geez. He'd said he could walk more than a few blocks, but so far that just wasn't true.

Wait... what?

She gleaned a few important things. First, Phil was a thief. A professional thief. He'd gotten his dumb self baited, hooked, and threatened and he hadn't given his friends or family any choice in the matter. He just took the easy way out.

And the best part? The absolute cherry on the top?

"You're not Phil." That wasn't a question. It was a deadpan disbelief moment.

He'd said it. Ty. It sang with the flavor of truth. Ty freaking Fisher. Here was one of the crossed out names on her tattoo list.

Noel grabbed the front of his shirt and had her other hand halfway to Ty's face before she got a hold of herself. Not the face. She stopped and kneed him in the gut instead.

"Of all the..." She paced away for a few steps, hands on hips, fuming all the way. She turned back, "So where's Phil!?" SHE DIDN'T REMEMBER PHIL! Noel wanted to amend her notes, but in her current state, did not trust herself not to launch fragile technology across the road like a skipping stone.

Ty braced himself for the punch in the face; he knew of all places it was actually a good place to be, hit. Not so much to hit someone in the face, as it could hurt your--

He found the wind suddenly knocked out of him, and he doubled over, short of breath. Well...that could have ended a lot better. And here he was, back at square freaking one.

"I don't know..." he gasped, tears coming to his eyes for a multitude of reasons. "I never even met this Phil...I just...saw the opportunity and ran with it. I...I needed someone to talk to, but I was afraid if I said it was me, well...that this would happen."

After his story, all she'd heard was that he wasn't Phil. But he had to admit, he deserved every bit of it.

"I'm sorry I did that, but...forget it...I never should have bothered you." He could have walked away--should have, anyway, but he was still reeling. Noel had a pretty powerful knee...

"Oh no. Nononono. You don't get to walk away right now." She felt like she was bullying him a little, but couldn't seem to help it. A thief? She'd made friends with a thief?

She'd made friends with an assassin. Why not a thief too?

Noel let out a long slow breath as she mentally counted to 5, found that 5 was not enough, and continued until she reached 15.

Okay. First step phone. Not Phil. Who was Phil? Who the hell knew anymore!?

"You are in a heap of trouble, Ty. I-" She stopped mid-thought and looked over at the ginger. He'd mentioned family? "You are going to call your family right now. You can't play around with that kind of crap, man. I don't care if you got yourself into something that you don't think you can dig yourself out of. That's why you share your problems less insipid minds."

Noel held out her super secret spy phone with the screen unlocked, ready for Ty to put in the numbers and make the call.