Oh...she was laughing at him now. Well in fairness he had been pretty incompetent thus far. That wasn't going to stop him from doing what he had to do. He proceeded to completely ignore what she was saying and haul her out as fast as he could. Nothing said "I am carrying something I don't want you to find" like suddenly becoming noncompliant the moment a pat-down was suggested.

"We're not getting a do-over. I'm going to find what you're hiding from me and then you're going to have it confiscated and added to your list of charges, of which most are petty for now." He couldn't help but look somewhat amused at what this woman was doing, despite the fact that it was pretty obvious to him that she had some sort of mutation. One that made her immune to his abilities. Meaning that logically she was either psychic or she had some kind of bodily adaptation towards pain, neither of which bothered him particularly.

Noel was the least helpful limp noodle ever.

He pulled at her? She might have leaned that way. He tried to get her to stand? Oh nooooo! Noodles don't have knees!

She wasn't so limp of a noodle that she let herself fall or hit her head --she'd hate to accidentally trigger her mutation, that was when it was the most dangerous. No, she was just hilariously unaccomodating.

Was it the sudden interest in a pat down? No. It was the fact that he had the audacity to try to be a professional now when he'd done such a poor job of it before. It had mattered most before, when she still could have done something, but not now. Now, she was getting arrested. Not for the uncountable heinous crimes she'd committed or helped commit, but she seemed to be getting arrested because this guy was having a bad day.

It was such an insult to professionals everywhere.

The job was everything. It was why she'd turn herself in to this guy when others might have done the convenient thing. Killing him wasn't part of any job. Killing wasn't something to be taken lightly.

By the time Linely had her in a proper spread pressed up against the car, they were both soaked through to the bone. It was a cold rain and the coat was really weighing her down. Even if she managed to catch his eye for a mind wipe, she probably wasn't going to get terribly far in these circumstances.

What would assassin master Hades think? He probably would have bopped this guy on the noggin and skipped town for another two weeks. He certainly wouldn't have been so petty as to go full noodle in front of the public library.

One handgun, one semi-automatic, one very large knife bordering on short sword, one retractable baton, a couple zip ties, a couple bandages, a permanent marker, a pad of sticky notes, a monocular, and $34.79 later-- he got most everything.

"Back up rounds." Ah dangit. She was supposed to be unhelpful, but the thought of him missing something really irked her.

Linely wasn't surprised to find the massive arsenal of weaponry on the woman, he may have got soaked, but it was worth it to take her off the street. He read out the extra felonies to the woman as he catalogued the weaponry in his mind.

"So that's possession of three illegal weapons in the 4th degree, specifically possession of an illegal firearm, possession of an illegal bladed weapon and the truncheon. As well as suspicion of possession of a Handgun without a licence, unless you can show that to me. All added to your rap sheet. This is probably enough to put you in prison." Linely spoke in a way that made him sound almost disappointed at her. Withering, not angry, just disappointed.

>> "Back up rounds"

Linely found that in another concealed pocket. " Thanks." He took one look at the bullets "Well that just confirms that your rifle is illegal if it wasn't already. You really should have just shown more common sense than to brandish a weapon at a couple of kids. Get in the car, we're going to the station."

He was prepared to force her back in if that was what was necessary, he was honestly looking forward to being rid of this case. "I'm bringing in an arsenal of weapons. This woman was armed to the teeth. We may need to have a look at other crimes that she could be connected to." He remarked down the radio. A garbled "we'll put someone straight on it" came back down the phone. Looked like it was the MRC's lucky day.

Aww. He seemed so disappointed.

"What a strange person you are." It just did not compute. How did that brain work in there?

He didn't know jack about her and he didn't seem to care either. And yet... he was disappointed. Did that even make sense? It wasn't as if she'd been actively murdering anyone when he walked up. In fact, she didn't feel as if she'd done anything to deserve the immediate antagonism. Brandishing a gun at kids? No. She'd let them see her put on a coat full of bad things. The brats needed some manners. And now that she didn't even have her marker, she was going to start forgetting things forever.

Losing her phone was equivalent to a blind man losing his cane.

Every step of the way Noel considered resisting, and every step of the way she again discarded the idea. Prison might be good for her. Maybe then she'd figure out if laws were really what was right... if she didn't end up in the looney bin.

Huh. Had she ever been to a psychiatric hospital?

Noel let herself be tucked back into the back of the car and relished the thought that her soggy clothes would make his seats soggy. Soggy seats were bound to stink. In fact she flopped to the side and let some of the damp seep out of her coat. She'd take the ride downtown. No big deal. They'd never figure out what to do with her anyway. She'd had a lifetime and still floundered.

Linely got into the front of the car, now soaking wet from the rain. Too bad she couldn't be charged for the cleaning of his uniform. The rain made a pitter-patter noise on the windshield. This woman was a mutant of some kind as well, so potentially quite a threat, I mean if the arsenal of weapons present wasn't enough to show that already.

The noise of traffic broke through the rainfall as Linely began to set off, his sopping wet hands operating the car like clockwork. "You're most likely going to prison for a long time." He said to the woman, again realising this was probably not the thing she wanted to hear. "Your phone is probably ruined by now as well, what with the weather" he said in a matter of fact way. Indeed, as the car sped through a puddle, spraying water onto the pavement.

They came to the police station.The rain still pouring down. "I'll need you to get out" he said to the woman. He himself wasn't looking forward to going back into the rain, but it was better to be in that nice, dry police station he was sure.

By the time they arrived at the station, her clothes were body warmed. She was still wet, but Noel had been toying with the idea of closing her eyes and resting for bit since she'd flopped herself quite horizontal. It wasn't quite comfortable enough for her to doze off, though, since her hands were still cuffed behind her. Either way she wasn't taking the bait by answering him. Yeah. Her phone was kaput. That was why she'd wanted him to stop being a prick for half a second.

She could tell when they slowed and the vehicle turned that they had arrived at their location.

The roof of the car held no answers for her. Rain made soothing sounds against the metal of the car, though.

> "I'll need you to get out"

"I'd open my own door, but my hands are tied." Not to mention that the doors were childlocked. He would have to go first and he would have to spend more time in the rain than she did.

Noel crossed her legs to increase her lounging comfort. Petty was not her usual modus operandi, but it felt right in the moment. She wouldn't disgrace herself with more limp noodle resistance. She'd face her fate with decorum after this one last dig.

"Please don't behave Childishly miss, it doesn't suit you very well." Linely exited the car promptly , and was greeted by the further down burst of rain. Well, it happened that way sometimes. It was going to be dry inside. "You do realise if you don't properly comply, I'm more than happy to use you as an umbrella? I can do a fireman's lift."

The weather was in short awful, Linely didn't want to spend too much time in it, but he needed to do what he needed to do. The thought of the people that had forced him to do this task having to handle her was amusing though, considering what she'd been like with him. The fact that she didn't have any painful memories was an issue though, she was probably a telepath of some sort? Or was she just resistant to physical pain, either way, she wasn't a vanilla human. The MRC would figure it out.

He opened the door to the back seat, and noticed that she crossed her legs. He rolled his eyes at this. "Am I really going to have to treat you like a 5 year old? Because I will if I have to" he spoke again. She wasn't going to get out of the car easily he could guess, so Linely began to drag her out.

"This isn't going to be very dignified" he sounded more British than usual with that remark, well, it seemed the woman didn't really have a sense of humor to speak of anyway. Criminals rarely did.

What did or did not suit her was of no concern to Noel. She was not here to court the officer. If he disappeared from this world tomorrow, it would be of no concern to her. She may not even remember.

He pulled her legs-first from the car and, true to her self-promise, Noel did not repeat the limp noodle act. See? She could play nice. She already was playing nice. She even hustled so they could both get out of the rain and into the department.

Noel couldn't remember having ever been processed, but she imagined hers was not a typical case. She helpfully reminded the officers to secure the weapons from Officer Linely's trunk, but mostly kept silent and neutral. Noel was not overtly helpful in the information area. She couldn't be if she didn't even know herself.

It was after they'd taken her photo and fingerprints when things started to go strange.

"Oh, hey. Look. We've got a couple hits." It usually took a while for a search to go through, so getting immediate results was unusual for starters. The man behind the computer leaned closer to his computer, and closer as the concern on his face magnified.

The FBI, CIA, and Interpol all had a flag for her prints. Violent crime. Murder. Theft. Vandalism. Destruction of property. Abuse of mutant abilities, specially tagged as psychic... the lists varied between departments, but none indicated innocence.

Noel got shuffled off to a holding room for waiting or sweating or something.

She was secured with a fresh pair of cuffs, larger this time. Probably the mutant kind. She was also secured to the table and secured again at the ankles. That was better. This was safer for everyone, really.

As the woman quit with the childish act she'd put on, Linely couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief as he marched her into the police station, out of the rain, which was only getting worse. While he dried himself off, he let the officers process him, while he stayed with the man at the computer.

Steven, the guy at the computer was normally pretty calm when it came to the search, and his remark "Oh hey, we've got a few hits" immediately made Linely think that the woman was perhaps some kind of drug-runner, that would explain the lack of identity, the issues with the law and the arsenal. "So, I'm guessing we're going to have to contact the Mexican authorities-"

Steve had gone pale. "Well,p-p-probably and the FBI , CIA, Interpol..." he began to stutter forth the list of organisations. That couldn't be right could it, she was just a bit of a whackjob mutant carrying weapons, that was all... Linely began to laugh at the typical Steve style humor.

"Good one Steve..." Linely laughed...Steve gave him a look. He wasn't kidding. Linely rushed to his end of the computer so he could see the charges. Murder. Theft. Abuse of powers, more precisely memory erasure. Advice was never to make eye contact if you saw her. "Linely...you got lucky that you weren't killed" Steve mumbled to him. The humor had drained out of the situation with a click.

This was too easy. She had been taken down by just a random cop who had a bad day? This woman had an agenda. "Right then, you are hereby arrested on suspicion of 1st and 2nd Degree homocide, theft, vandalism, destruction of property, use of psychic powers on city officials, gross abuse of mutation, illegal gun possession, breaking and entering, and jaywalking."

They wasted no time in placing her in the mutant cuffs. Ankles and hands, placing an adapted human nearby her cell to annul any attempts at escape. They weren't letting her get away with all she had done. Linely would gain some reputation for this one he knew, but somehow it felt...Pyrrhic.

Doubtless they were going to send their big guns in, the resident psychics that would be able to interrogate without forgetting. The word was that "Psychic Alpha" of the CIA was being sent in. That person was known only by reputation alone, and it was a good one. Linely almost felt sorry for the woman. From what he gathered, interviews with this guy were long, painful for the...victim, and effective.

"Can you at least let me talk to her before sending the nuke in so to speak?" Linely had said to the Chief. Hopefully the woman would see sense and not be stupid enough to withhold information from him. Otherwise, "Alpha" would be sent in, and it wouldn't be pretty.

Linely came to the door where "Noel" was held, and entered. It was a blank room, with a false observational wall. Where the adapted mutant had been placed. A single, dark oak table seperated the two of them. Only a single tape recorder was placed on the desk, combined with a letter of confession. He said nothing when coming to face where she sat, before he turned on the tape recorder, said the basic protocol stuff. He then fully faced her suddenly, staring into her eyes and placing both his hands on the table.

"They're planning on sending in the CIA's "resident psychic" , I don't know what that means, but I can tell you that you won't like it one bit. My advice is to tell me everything you know, and sign the confession to everything you did, before we send in that guy." He said earnestly. "I know I'm the one responsible for putting you in this mess in a certain sense, but you're better off pleading guilty and not suffering that fate". There was genuine worry in his voice and expression. Hopefully this fellow mutant would do the right thing.

The CCTV was a potential problem, but at least the voice recorder did not appear to connect to the internet. It was so hard to tell these days with The Internet of Things. Even crock pots were talking to the internet these days.

Noel wanted nothing more than to lay her head down on the table and rest. Ever since the adapted moved in range, she'd felt the tell-tale signs of her flux memories cementing. A headache unfurled behind her temples, a familiar ache.

And here was Linely. Wanting her to sign a paper.

Usually she was the clueless one.

"Here's where things get interesting, officer, because we're on a very short timeline." It all depended on how closely Panu was paying attention or how quickly he needed something from her. He was her back up and she wanted to hyperventilate at the thought of what that child might do when he found out where she was. Noel didn't want to hurt these people. She knew that police people were supposed to uphold law, order, and justice. There were so few things that remained black and white for her, but this was one of them. Police people were supposed to be good, if sometimes misguided. Noel did not kill good people.

She pulled her hands up to the table and set them down on the wood so that the link between her and the table was taut. "You clearly had no idea what you were stepping in today and if you would have stopped to listen we wouldn't both be here in this situation." He looked like he might want to say something, but there just wasn't time. She barreled on.

"On record, I'm not signing your paper no matter what it says because I can't verify what's on it. This close to an adapted, my mutation is suppressed and as such I'm not currently compelled to tell you the truth. I'll tell you anyway because it's the quickest way for us to figure out what to do.

I don't have any information. Anything you want from me beyond the physical, I guarantee that I don't have it. If you doubt me, the government's psychic pet will be able to confirm that before we both turn each other's brains into so much soup.

With your adapted in range and no phone, everything's gone. That's the advantage of using me. I am a weapon that can be kept clean." It was clear how bad people could get a hold of her and use her for a bad end. It was good then, that she surrounded herself with people that she could trust would not take advantage of her blind spots.

"The people I work for are dangerous and resourceful and they'll be looking for me. I don't tell you this as a threat. I tell you this because I want you and the members of this office to go home to your husbands and wives and children at the end of today. I want you to continue to seek justice because the world needs more of that."

She sat back in her chair. There wasn't time to explain all of everything. Heck, she didn't even know the half of it anyway. She longed to push up her sleeves and check her tattoos, but the cuffs wouldn't allow for it. They usually helped her make sense of a situation.

"I'm not scared of Alpha." After all, if he could affect her, she would be able to affect him. She would pay for it with physical pain, but it would be worth the effort. "I'm scared of the people that hold my leash and what lengths they are willing to go to." That wasn't all that she was scared of, but it was a start, and the most important for now.

It was a simple tape, not connected to the internet. Linely was smart enough to know better than that by now. Technopaths presumably existed somewhere, and it wouldn't be pretty if some of the information got leaked. Most officers thought he was crazy, but he liked the old school stuff better, it was reliable like that.

So she wasn't scared of Alpha. "You must be telling the truth or really dumb." Something told Linely it was the former. "But tell me, why bother letting yourself get arrested? Who are these people that threaten us? We have adapted officers, which means that mutants aren't an issue for the most part, but I'm guessing we're talking city-destroying type damage?"

That was going to be bad, but Linely couldn't do anything, release her now, he'd get arrested, don't release her, then all hell could break loose. "You've murdered people, I'm afraid justice has to come to all...even people used as weapons. That said you've placed me in a bit of a dilemma". Justice for this woman, or the master perhaps? Flush whoever it was out by keeping her imprisoned? His answers were soon to be found in what happened next.

There was a knock at the door. "Well, that will be Alpha. I have to let him in." He walked up to the door and opened it. A relatively cheery faced looking man, mid 50s ish, greying hair, but with an air of odd serenity about him answered the door. Dressed in a black business suit, he came in. This was Alpha? It was certainly a surprise.

He didn't acknowledge the police officer, instead going past him, staying dead silent. All Linely could hear were his footsteps and the tape recorder for a few seconds.
*tap* *whirr" *tap* *tap* *whirr*

"Alpha" stopped when he got a good look at his supposed interrogatoree "Noel? Do you remember me?" The man said, almost... kindly , definitely in a friendly way. "I mean given your power set, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't." They were supposed to know each other it seemed then. Linely had had plenty of surprises that day, but even that raised his  eyebrows slightly.

She hadn't been sure what Linely would say about her desperate last ditch effort to explain, but Noel would never have guessed that. Truth or dumb? Probably both at this point. She barked out a single laugh before she reigned it in. This day was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. It just kept taking unexpected twists.

"I tried to take a different route, but other than leaving you face down on the ground, you left me zero options." Today's bizarreness was his fault. Noel's eyebrows said so. She was no good at lying; she'd never been able to work through the terrible taste it left in her mouth. Even now with nothing to keep her from lying, she didn't bother trying to hide how she felt. It just wasn't who she was.

Noel opened her mouth to tell him about Ragnarok. How they weren't the enemy. There was just so much to say that she didn't know where to start.

And then she was abruptly out of time.

The term Alpha had evoked a different image than what walked through that door. He looked calm and grandfatherly. And he knew her name.

Frozen, she could only watch as he paused and smiled a doting, sympathetic smile. He took a careful inspection of her. Noel watched his eyes and tried her best to read the intent behind them.

"No." She didn't remember him. She could safely swear that she'd never seen him before in her life, but her heart rate was ratcheting up with the possibilities.

"Amazing. You've gotten your scar healed. And your hair. Wow." He touched his face near his mouth.

Scar? On her face? With her power out of commission, she couldn't tell if he was making this all up or not. Noel reached up to feel the place indicated by Alpha, but her hands were stopped short by the restraints.

"That does explain some things." He seemed so jovial and yet Noel wanted to shake him until all the information fell out of his mouth.

"You must have been the one obfuscating that messiah unicorn's movements." The first hint of disapproval ran across his face when Noel raised a questioning eyebrow in his direction. It was a brief cloud quickly chased away by his sunny disposition. "Oh. I suppose you wouldn't know, but if there's a hint in there, I will."

He was from above Linely's paygrade... and he knew her face? That might explain why they had even less time than she'd thought.

"Officer," he turned, acknowledging the policeman in the room for the first time, "I'll need something that can work as a blindfold, if you please: a bandana or perhaps a neck tie. I'll also be needing the keys for the lead that is keeping her affixed to the table. The restraints can stay on, but I'll be removing Ms. Gage from this facility."

You know that part where Noel had said that she was not afraid of Alpha? She was plenty afraid now.

"Alpha" was suddenly fawning over Noel, and unsurprisingly she didn't look very happy, she clearly didn't remember him even in the slightest, even as he behaved like an elderly relative that hadn't seen a teenage child since they were a baby. Linely could only look apologetically at her whilst this guy continued with his adoration.

A few words caught his ears "Unicorn?" what on earth had this woman been doing before she started working for the crazies? Was she a government agent all this time? That wouldn't explain the nasty threats, but there were slightly unsavory elements to the CIA at times, hence the use of brutal telepathic interrogation was allowed.

Suddenly Alpha turned to him and asked him to get a blindfold and give him the keys to her restraints. Again this was in an awfully jovial manner that was now getting rather unsettling, even for Linely. "As quickly as you can if you please", the agent held out his hand in an outstretched palm.

Linely was under orders. He took another look at Noel. Another apologetic glance. She didn't want to go with this guy and that was clear. However, much like Noel had said before, he needed to make sure everyone here got back to their families in one piece. "Yes sir." He took the necessary key out of his pocket and placed it into Alpha's hand.

A blindfold would be more difficult to come by, but Alpha's sudden suggestion of a necktie made Linely remember. He was wearing his plain clothes. "I'll get a new one in the post right?" He joked as he gave the thick, blue, tie over.

The agent chuckled. "Put it this way, the CIA has sent far more expensive things in the post than neckties." Linely thought he saw a gleam of joyful malevolence come into his eye, which was gone in a second. The implications here were rather obvious. Still Linely laughed along with the agent's macabre joke.

"Now Noel. It's time to take you home." Alpha turned to her with another smile as he moved to detach the restraints from the desk. There was still one question that Linely needed answering.

"Why do you need a blindfold anyway?" It wasn't as if the agent was some Christian Grey type character....or maybe he was... The agent turned round with a chuckle, this time almost a scoff at the obvious ignorance of the officer.

"Her powers don't work unless she can make eye contact. Didn't you know. Why, I'm amazed she didn't erase your memory of her the moment you tried to arrest her." So...why hadn't she done that?

"I'm sure there's a reason why-" Linely said carefully, looking positively quizzical at that point. She could have just avoided the situation completely, not got arrested, not being taken to wherever Alpha was taking her...bet she was regretting that decision now. "Well...why didn't you?" Linely asked, hoping that there was an innocuous explanation.

She knew that look and it had Noel frowning.

Oh. So now he was sorry. Now that it was too late. Now that he could do nothing but follow orders.

Even though it was Alpha who approached with the blindfold, Noel watched Linely up until the moment her power was secured behind the necktie. She poured every ounce of accusation into that moment. This was his fault. These were not the keepers she'd expected to show up. She didn't know if she could trust these people. They had information and she had no way of verifying it.

The boys were having their chuckle and Noel was reviewing her odds once they got out of range of the Adapted.

Of course out of the Adapted's range, Alpha would have his mutation again. She wanted desperately to know what he knew, but was it worth the risk?

They probably wouldn't bother with an Adapted escort. With her eyes covered, she wasn't a threat with her powers. But she'd picked up a lot of specific skills in the meantime... better not to try anything until she was out of the building. He'd have to make a mistake eventually, right?

Right?

>"Well... why didn't you?"

She hadn't been listening closely. Alpha guided Noel to her feet with a tug on the lead attached to her anti-ability cuffs and then a hand on her elbow. Luckily it was still an easy answer, even without knowing the context.

Why she did or didn't do something was always the same. "I try to do the right thing no matter the consequences."

She didn't know where he was in the room exactly. Her blindfold wasn't perfect, she could still see down low, but it was effective in keeping her from making eye contact. Alpha paused to knock on the door and a buzzer sounded when whoever was on the outside tripped the lock mechanism.

"Hey, Linely..." Best guess, she turned her face toward him. "Be careful of whoever holds your leash." They might just give him enough rope to hang himself.

Alpha clucked his tongue at her as they passed toward the building and out of the Adapted's range.

Was that really necessary? His voice was in her head. It was hard to describe the quality of a head-voice, but the effect was immediately identifiable. Quite the little moral highground you've built for yourself.

"I'm not going to like you, am I?"

You never do.

((Continued for Noel in Psychotic Break))

Linely saw the accusation in Noel's face. He could only feel more guilty now. Alpha was perfectly capable of turning his brain to mush if he opposed his taking of Noel in any way. Besides, she wasn't a law-abiding citizen, and Linely was sure that the CIA...

Except he wasn't sure, Guantanamo and other things that they got up to was proof enough that they weren't. These guys would probably take what they could get from Noel and then quietly recruit her back into their machine. What's more she wouldn't remember the first thing about it. All they needed to do was wipe her memory and start over again.

Now she explained to them both what her reasoning was. "Trying to do the right thing". What was the right thing here? Was it really moral to hand over such a dangerous person to the CIA? Better them than terrorists he supposed, particularly as her need to do good no matter what the consequences was an excuse so often used by evil.

"Sometimes it's hard to know what the right thing to do is" he spoke more to himself than to the blindfolded woman, as she was lead out of the chamber. Then came the last comment:

>>"Be careful of whoever holds your leash"

Was he being manipulated? Possibly, Alpha was after all a very powerful telepath. Had he done the right thing? That was a question he would continue to ponder as Noel and Alpha were led out of the police station by an armed escort of burly looking, visibly mutant, men in suits. Was the law holding him back from doing the right thing?

****
Linely was making himself some tea and toast for breakfast as the doorbell rang. It was a package for him. He hadn't been expecting one. This was unusual, but given the events of the previous day, he was prepared for such things. The box was clearly not ticking, so he placed it on his breakfast table while he finished up with serving himself the food and drink.He took a sip of tea, and opened the box. He nearly spat the tea out in reaction to what it was.

A lovely, silken purple tie lay in the box in front of him, with a one sided card placed face up on top of it. The note read: "With warm regards: Alpha".