Noel confirmed his guess and informed him she had not been having the best of luck with the law lately. The Ranger waited, he could tell there was more to it and he'd let her tell it. He opted to pick back up his foot and take another bite.

She let her shirt back down and kicked up her feet. and stated that they were desperate times. The Ranger wondered if this was connected to her incompetency. The scar was new enough it might just be. her comment seemed to be her dismissing it all.

"It's one of the things that got me here so I suppose I can't complain too much."

After saying it, Noel took a bite. The Ranger took that as his cue. After swallowing a bite, and washing it down he set his food back down. He'd had a bit less than half, but Noel had the right idea. It was warm under the covers and he wasn't about to hold his food under with him. He'd never gotten around to putting on a shirt.

"I'm guessin' that's related t' why y're here? At Haven that is." She'd attempted to dismiss the topic so he didn't want to pry. He'd talk around it. He had a two-fold interest. As head of security this was information that he should have. Though, right now he wasn't wearing that hat. Instead he was interested in the goings on with someone he'd come to think of as a comrade in arms once.

Sure, he only knew her that one day. That one day had about as much happen as a tour in Iraq.

Related to why she was here? "Yes." For a moment, she thought she might be able to keep it at that, but she felt her chest tighten and the first flutter of fear which was frankly, stupid and unreasonable. It was over. She wouldn't have to do it again. The words tried to choke her out from the inside. The meal that her eyes told her she could have 2 of was only half gone when she had to put it down.

"He was so green, Ranger. They shouldn't have sent-" She shook her head and had to make herself breathe before she got messy. "Dumb. All of it was one big dumb thing after another. They shouldn't have sent anyone at all. No one had been terrorized or victimized. Just some dumb kids threw my phone in the gutter." Noel pulled more blanket up and around her into a floofy fortress. To keep from stealing the Ranger's side, that meant she had to pull her legs in close. That was fine. They served as one more thing to put between her and everything else.

"I didn't want to kill an officer. They're supposed to be the ones that're upholding the law and doing what's right. They're supposed to be the ones that can tell right from wrong. And he just wasn't giving me any other options. It was kill or be arrested." How many times had she replayed it in her head? How many times had she considered cold blooded murder just for the convenience of it?

"I didn't make it easy, but I did let the officer arrest me. Passive resistance at its finest. He was so mad that when he pat me down he missed some." But then, she'd been fully kitted and waiting on the call to go kill a man. There'd been more than he'd expected to find on an average looking lady on an average looking day.

But getting arrested was not getting shot.

"I used to work with other psychics on behalf of uncle Sam. I can pull out things people know and then make them not know it anymore. Sort of an ideal setup for intelligence." There was no point in softening it. She didn't help the psychic reputation in the least. What she could do was scary and she knew that first hand.

"I got out a long time ago. They wanted me back in. It... didn't end well for either party. Actually, if I hadn't gotten shot by an officer called out for the car chase, I'd probably be there now. But things got a little too visible and the cleanup got to be a little much."

In response he received a single, "Yes." The Ranger let that hang in the air, and after setting down her food Noel continued. She had his undivided attention as she spoke.

She told a story of an interaction with a newer officer. Something stupid led to the officer arriving. She'd chosen not to kill the officer. The Ranger had killed his fair share of people, but he'd never taken out someone in blue. Well, not at home. It seemed too far. It was good that she didn't.

Noel continued beyond the arrest.

The Ranger knew she could erase memories, but her taking them was new to him. Her claiming to be able to do that and having worked with other psychics brought back some of the apprehension he had when she'd first told him about her erasing memories. He knew the Government must have at some point, and probably still was somewhere, involved with using psychics to get work done. He'd just rather they stayed far away.

The Ranger pushed all that away for now. He could puzzle out how he felt about the Government working with psychics another time. Besides, Noel had left that unit.

She finished the story. Shot during a car chase, the shot probably keeping her out of the clutches of some black unit in the Government.

It was rather a lot to take in at once. Her arrest, working for the Government to steal secrets and make the original owner of the secret forget it, and a shot that likely protected you from the group she'd worked for.

The Ranger was lost for words. What do you say to all of that? "It's in the past," or, "It'll be alright," all seem canned and hollow.

Instead of trying to say something, when there was honestly nothing that could be said that would do justice to what Noel had just dropped, the Ranger gently put a hand on her shoulder.

Different people in this kind of situation react differently. Some want to be held, some want to push everyone away. A lot of people were somewhere between. The Ranger opted to provide a comforting touch and would adapt to how Noel responded. He could remove his hand if she bristled or slide his hand to her other shoulder to pull her into a comforting hug.

Well, side hug, they're on a couch.

"0 out of 10, would not recommend." Again she tried to deflect.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

On a normal day she would have shrugged it off, but Hadden had said that these were his friends as often as his colleagues. He had insisted that she didn't have to do things alone.

Noel tipped over until her shoulder rested against Hunter's side and her head on his shoulder. She let his arm slide across her shoulders. Despite remaining stiff-backed it was... nice. Too bad he was only on her side because she'd skated over the details.

"I erased a man's ability to speak English because I was afraid he'd tell others where I was. I made someone forget who her enemies were so she wouldn't see me as one. I kill, I steal, I maim." She'd used a healing mutant as a human-shaped shield and battering ram, for goodness sakes. "So if you're feeling bad for me, don't. Just... help me do better next time."

At his touch Noel tipped over and he slid his across to her shoulders. Her head on his shoulder. She was still warm with the heat from the shower. Her back remain stiff, she must not be completely comfortable with this. Which to be fair, this was only the second time they’d seen each other and she’d forgotten much of the first.

The heavy subject aside, it was nice.

Noel continued. This time she dumped some of the worst. Killing, stealing, and maiming? The Ranger had done more than his share of that. Taking away someone’s ability to speak English? That was intense and was more than anything else what bothered the Ranger. It was terrifying that she could just delete something like that out of someone’s head.

He shoved that aside. Noel hadn’t messed with his head, so far as he knew.

”Y’re not the only one in this room who’s rained holy hell down on people.” She was not alone in having ruined lives. Oh the stories he could tell. ”As someone who know’s how it is t’ have destroyed lives, I’m always here t’ help.”

The face of a Korean kid that was shot just to keep him away from the North Koreans flashed in his mind.

No running. No screaming. He didn't even tense up or move away.

Very slowly Noel started to relax against him. The more people to hold her accountable, the better. Even better since he at least had seen some side of it.

She rolled her head back to look at him. To see why he was quiet. To try to read some of what he might be thinking.

Michael's eyebrows were drawing lower weighed down by the heaviness that he carried. She reached up and poked him right in the wrinkle. "Don't. Whatever that is, don't." Well meaning as she might be, to avoid the temptation of removing that burden, Noel lowered her eyes again. No point in aiming if she didn't mean to pull the trigger. That put her face back on his bare shoulder.

"Learn lessons from the mistakes you carry, but don't self-flagellate. Otherwise I may have to come over there."

He hadn’t realized it until Noel was poking him in the face, but had mentally drifted back to that night in North Korea. He snapped back to reality.

“Don’t. Whatever that is, don’t.”

She was looking up at him now. And he noticed that she was much more relaxed. The now was infinitely more better than what he was remembering. Though, not much was better than relaxing with a good looking woman resting against you.

Looking away Noel added, “Learn lessons from the mistakes you carry, but don’t self-flagellate. Otherwise I may have to come over there.”

”I try t’ keep the worst in the past.” Sometimes easier said than done. ”Not all’re mistakes though. Hard decisions mostly.” He shook his head slightly banishing the thoughts before leaning it against Noel’s on his shoulder.

Otherwise she may have to come over here? Did she mean poke him in the face again? She was already up against him. ”I’ll keep it in mind though. Keep y’ where y’ are.”

She scoffed. "Keeping me in my place?" Was not what he had said, but she was poking fun and using it as an excuse to shrug off his arm. They needed to not wallow. Snuggling was nice and all, but she, at least, needed to keep from falling into the trap of ifs and shoulds and might have dones.

She sat back and inspected him with fresh perspective. Michael Hunter, lady killer.

"Psh. You probably got hurt on purpose. Needy for attention. Hashtag SAD." And that was deliberately inflammatory teasing and so untrue that she couldn't quite manage it with a straight face. Noel grabbed her water and glugged some down so that hopefully, it'd help her through the next part.

"Michael Hunter is so incompetent—" Did she dare? Noel took another drink, a twinkle of mischief in her eye. "—someone who's incompetent does a better job of taking care of him."

She dropped the metaphorical gauntlet.

And then everything changed. Noel presented a creative interpretation of what the Ranger had said and was shrugging off his arm. In reply he smiled and shrugged. Her tone sounded like this was in jest so would play along.

He crossed his arms and eyed her as she sat back and fired her first salvo. She couldn't quite keep a straight face as she called him sad. The Ranger narrowed his eyes. She grabbed some water before firing her second salvo.

It was well played.

The Ranger faked a look of shock. It was an insult battle. He knew there was no way he'd win, but he needed to at least make a strong showing. He fumbled for a second, on the spot insulting not being his forte."I...y'...w'... ...Mmmm" Well when speaking fails...

Pulling his legs in and getting them under him on the couch, the Ranger leaned forward and grabbed Noel. He pulled her in close and then up she went as he leaned back. Were he standing his ankle would have none of this shenanery. Sitting on top of his legs, he could manage it.

Sitting straight up he had her over his shoulder he moved his arms to transition to using her as a weight for an overhead press. One hand on a thigh, the other on her midsection and up she went. Full arm extension.

If you can't beat 'em, lift them off the ground.

His eyes widened and hers narrowed, lioness on the tail of something wounded. He’d fumbled.

“Cute. Is that all you—” he reached out and grabbed her. It wasn't a surprise exactly since they weren't all that fast moving and there's been some setup involved, but it was unexpected.

There was something inherently funny about just getting tossed around when she knew it was safe. It made her stupid laugh: the kind of reaction that just couldn't be scripted and sounded dumb because there was no filter in place to keep it bottled up.

“You can't just hulk your way out of this one, buddy.” There wasn't a lot of water left after getting manhandled and his arms were longer than hers so it took a bit of wiggling for her to reach down, pull open the back of his pants, and dump the last of her drink between his cheeks.

Noel may have won the war of words, but the Ranger had used her as a barbell. So there was that. You know, the little victories. And he was rewarded with a laugh. He smiled.

“You can't just hulk your way out of this one, buddy.”

"I think I..." The Ranger was cut off. Noel had poured her water not just into the back of his pants, but straight down his crack. In his surprise he dropped Noel, he caught her again before she hit the couch in the crooks of his arm. He then deposited her onto the couch.

Noel deposited he felt at the back of his pants. Yup completely wet. He looked at Noel. "This is y'r fault." He unzipped his soaked pants and yanked them off. Now wearing nothing but his underwear he took a page out of her book and threw his pants at her head.

That shut him up quick. It also got Noel a quick trip to a short drop. She flung her arms and legs out uselessly on instinct, but there wasn't a point. He caught her and dumped her back onto the couch.

She might have been worried that he was mad, but his face... his face was absolutely worth everything. Noel rolled her lips together to try to contain her laughter as he checked what looked like freshly peed in pants.

"Maaaaybe just a little incontinent?" Which went right along with incompetent. She held up her fingers to demonstrate just how much. It was just a little! Not too much!

> "This is y'r fault."

She lost it. The cup had gone who knows where after she'd been dropped. Noel hugged her sides and belly laughed until she had to wipe her tears from her cheeks. A little echo bubbled up when the pants hit home and she laughed more when she accidentally rolled off the side of the couch, with only her legs remaining on the cushion. It wasn't like it was a long drop.

If they didn't have a big water spot on them, she would have shimmied his pants on. They were no different than the ones she'd thrown at him. Instead she batted them away.

"What a strange turn today has taken." She said from halfway on the floor. Not a bad one, from her tone. Just wholly unexpected.

She dumps water into his pants then calls him incontinent. That's just fighting dirty. The pants colliding with her head as she sat there laughing made it almost worth it though. Noel rolling off the couch did make it worth it.

The Ranger roared with laughter. He couldn't help himself. He watched Noel bat the pants aside as he tried to control himself.

"What a strange turn today has taken."

The Ranger wiped at his eyes, he'd laughed so hard they'd started to water a little. "Not at all where I saw today goin'." He sifted around and found the towel Noel had brought earlier. It was still a little damp, but it was drier than his underwear. He slid it between himself and the couch.

"Want a hand?" He reached a hand out to help her up. "Or did y' forget how t' hold things as well as how t' sit?"

Noel batted at the hand too in a sort-of lame high five. "I was thinking of living here on the floor. It's quite comfortable, really." Oh. But the washing machine chimed. She sat up, bonking her head on the underside of the coffee table on her way up.

The coffee table got a dirty look for the inconvenience.

"I'll get it. You get that foot up." Again she had to pick her way through the boxes, but it was worth it to move everything over to the dryer. She was feeling quite domestic by the time she hit the dry button.

Spying the medical box, Noel grabbed a bottle of pills that said there was something anti-inflammatory inside. She set that on the coffee table within reach and collected the leftovers to put back in the fridge.

Completely domestic. She should try this at home, actually.

"Looks like there's 30ish minutes on the dryer. I'm gonna go grab a nap. You keep the blanket. Since you're moist." Domestic and generous, Noel hopped back to his bedroom and closed the door. She may have taken a running start in order to hop onto the bed, but Hunter would never know it since the door was closed.

The Ranger's hand was met with a high five of sorts. He took his hand back, if she wanted to live on his floor, far be it from him to stop her. Then the washer finished and Noel assaulted the coffee table with her head. He winced, that didn't look fun. "There's a table there."

"I'll get it. You get that foot up."

Done. The Ranger put his foot back up on the coffee table as Noel navigated the field of boxes to get to the washing machine. He leaned back in the couch while Noel handled swapping everything to the dryer.

When she made her way back, Noel had a bottle with her. She scooped up the food and the Ranger leaned forward to grab the bottle. Anti-inflammatory. He opened the bottle and dumped some of the contents into his hand."Thank you." He called to Noel before he tossed back the pills in his hand and swallowed. One does not need something to wash down grunt candy. When he set the bottle down he did pick up his tea though. While it can be taken without something to drink it left a weird taste in the mouth and he had the means to clear it.

It did not pass the Ranger's notice how Noel was taking care of everything while he was injured. Sure he could have managed on his own, but her help made a huge difference. He'd have to do something to thank her later.

"Looks like there's 30ish minutes on the dryer. I'm gonna go grab a nap. You keep the blanket. Since you're moist."

"Sleep well." He said as he deposited his glass back on the coffee table.

With that Noel was once again in his bedroom closing the door. She was spending more time in there today than he had.

Being wet when the AC kicked on a moment later was cold. The Ranger turned on the couch so his head was on one armrest and his foot up on the other. He then pulled the blanket up over himself. It had somehow managed to escape most of the water.

A quick nap did sound good.