The burning pants handled, Ranger looked back to Noel. The danger of fire having been managed, Ranger let out a breath as his muscles returned to their normal size. This meant his shirt no longer had an appearance similar to a grown man wearing a child’s shirt. Stretched to its limit.

“Are- are you okay?”

Ranger looked down at himself. No burns. He patted lightly at his skin. Nothing was even sensitive, although one of his legs was rather warm to the touch. ”I’m fine. No burns.”

He looked back to Noel, ”Y’ alright? I… uh… Stripped y’ a little violently there. Sorry about that.” Then with a smile he added, ”That’s one way t’ get y’ out of y’r pants.”

Or was it Noel who had gotten Ranger out of his pants?... Again. She was the one who caused the fire after all.

She felt hot. And cold. And had goosebumps. Was the floor still smoking? Noel stomped over on wobbly legs to give the rug a little kick, but the fire seemed well and truly dead.

He was sorry, but not sorry enough that they were without pants.

"I am so, so incredibly sorry. I don't... that's not a thing... that I do often?" Sitting seemed like a nice option, but she'd only just wobbled her way over to the rug. The front door was looking more and more like a viable option.

Bail. Just get out. She wasn't scared of him exactly, but that was definitely not something that had ever happened before in the history of ever. And she was growing more and more embarrassed by the second. She didn't run away from things, but... this wasn't running away. It was tactical retreat.

"I am- I'm just-" She pointed ineffectually toward the door and then just gave up and walked over, unlocked everything, and walked out into the rain.

It was winter but with almost no wind, the chill in the air was just about the perfect wake up call to snap her out of whatever nonsense was happening in there. Noel walked out into the front lawn and rubbed her forehead. Thunder rumbled reminding her that it wasn't the best idea to just stand in the middle of a field, but she just needed a minute.

Noel apologized. She was completely flustered as she apologized. Maybe it was her first time having been lit on fire. Maybe it was the pair of them standing there pantsless after Ranger had literally ripped the pants off her body.

Who could say?

”Don’t worry about it. Ain’t my first time gettin’ set on fire. Knowin’ my life it likely won’t be the last.” Ranger was not a fan of being on fire, but as long as it kept itself to his clothes he was fine. Clothes could be replaced, skin required work.

Noel had stomped on the rug to ensure the fire was out. Ranger went to check the couch. The fire had done a number on the upholstery had seen better days but the frame underneath looked like it might still be sound. Sound enough to sleep on at least. Any flipping would more than likely do it in.

“I am- I’m just-”

Ranger looked to Noeland saw her pointing toward the door. Ranger cocked his head. He was momentarily confused about what she was trying to say until she walked over to the door and started on the lock. She was going outside.

In the rain. In Winter.

Ranger opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. She knew it was rainy, she knew it was cold. She was giving herself a cold shower. An accidentally romantic dinner, dancing, and then tearing off of pants. One might consider that it had been laid on thick. Ranger quietly chuckled to himself about the whole situation. Remove the word accidentally and it would have been a great night on paper.

In reality it had certainly been a night to remember. One that, aside from the fire, Ranger had certainly been enjoying. The notes and files had indicated that the pair of them had become quite close. Ranger had even been willing to have Noel root around in his head and selectively remove memories so that there was no barrier between them created by classified materials.

As a result of those the files they had been more immediately on board with working together in their run from the government. Primarily the file the agency had provided at the start. Their personal files gave them a better understanding of the relationship they had shared. Was anything they did or felt now a result of trusting and acting in accordance with what their future selves had done or was it organic? The only contrivance of fate being them waking up in the same place.

He could certainly see why future him had gotten together with Noel though. Had he not been shipping out overseas immediately after the wedding he might have looked her up. Ranger set the thoughts aside, there was no sense dwelling on that. For now he could just try to clean up the cabin a little while Noel was outside.

What was she doing? A man rips her pants off and has a negative ten year relationship with her and suddenly she’s all weak-kneed and stupid eyed? Her eyes vibrated in her head, but there was only darkness out here. No mirrors or men to worry about.

Noel turned her face up to the rain and focused on feeling the big, lukewarm plops rather than anything stupid like emotions.

Okay. From the outside, this relationship was a work partnership. Maybe a false relationship that turned real since they’d been under cover together? It certainly felt a bit real and the journal read like the real deal. He’d smiled when she asked him to dance and she was going to remember that giddy look for a long time.

Was that… allowed? She knew for a fact SUPER was not going to be happy about them running off without adult SUPERvision, but she was equally certain that their actions were justified enough to not cause any issues beyond a heap of paperwork.

So SUPER would have them back. They were assets freshly recovered.

If their positions at Haven were blown, then were they supposed to go their separate ways?

Noel looked back at the cabin. The windows glowed very softly, no doubt it was the sole-surviving candle or maybe the pants fire. God, was she actually considering giving this a chance? Until this trip, she would have happily gone her own way, maybe hit the spa before going back to being anonymous and remembered by no one.

She knocked before opening the door. Maybe it was silly, but she did. Noel wasn’t soaked through yet, but there were zero doubts of lingering fire.

”You think there’s firewood somewhere? Since, obviously the fireplace works?” They should really open the flue. She took two full steps inside before the shivers set in. She did her best to talk around them. ”And hot w-water I guess. Is that a thing that needs electricity?"

The rug was toast. Ranger rolled it up and set it aside. It was a valiant soldier and in case of any other fires it would be kept on hand ready to join battle. The smoke from the burning pants was moving out of the fireplace into the cabin. There was already enough smoke. Ranger dashed over to the fireplace and slid his hand into his sleeve before reaching into the fireplace and opening the flue. The smoke stung his eyes and he held his breath until he was able to back away from the smoke.

Ranger was picking up the candles and setting them back on the table when there was a knock. He turned to see Noel opening the door. “You think there’s firewood somewhere? Since, obviously the fireplace works.” She stepped in and Ranger could see her shivering. “And hot w-water I guess. Is that a thing that needs electricity?”

Casting his eyes around the cabin Ranger saw a blanket of some kind hanging off the back of the burned couch. He grabbed the blanket and walked to Noel, ”I’ll take a look f’r some firewood. Here. Help y, warm up.” Ranger moved to wrap the blanket around Noel’s shoulders. It smelled faintly of smoke. Although not much in the cabin likely didn’t smell at least faintly of smoke. ”If there’s a tank it’ll still be warm even if it’s electric. Won’t last long, but long enough t’ warm y’ up.” The cabin didn’t look fancy enough to have a more modern, tankless water heater. He nodded his head in the direction of the bathroom, ”Grab a shower. I’ll see t’ the fire.”

He gave her a blanket and didn't even make fun of her once for the long and growing list of stupidities that had been her fault tonight. The smell didn't bother her. At this point, there was just too much else going on in her senses. She did her best to look just above his eyes. It really wouldn't do to set them back another ten years.

"Thanks. A shower seems like the best idea. Er- are you needing one? I can go quick." It was more of a token gesture than an actual offer, but she'd abide by it if he wanted one. In the meantime, though, there was a promise of fire and her shower to take.

She was a bit afraid of the mirror and her slipping control so she didn't bother with a candle when she wandered into the bedroom. Noel was taking no risks with her blanket, besides, she'd done plenty of things blindfolded in her life for the sake of safety. What was a little darkness? Certainly not scary. If it weren't for the shivering she could have called it cozy.

She grabbed her bag and shut and locked the door. If there was an emergency, he'd just bust through the wall kool-aid man style or something. Anyone who would be stopped by a lock was someone she wanted stopped by the lock.

Groping around in her bag, her hand brushed against a wad of scratchy material. Probably lace? And aaaaaaabsolutely not gonna happen. Noel threw that in the trash, satisfied to hear it sink into the plastic bin next to the toilet. She would just turn her current undies inside out. Or wear the jeans. They were basically underwear and small enough that they'd dry out next to the fire quick enough.

Noel dropped the entire bag and her current set of clothes (or what was left of them) on the floor and felt around for the shower door.

The shower door was nowhere to be found.

There was no shower door.

There was no tub.

Had she bothered to look when they first walked in? Noel felt around and definitely found a shower head and a temperature lever thingy. She twisted it. Water came out. She twisted it more, the water went warm.

Did people not use shower doors or shower curtains any more? The future was freakin' weird. No flying cars. No shower doors.

She warmed up almost immediately. She soaped up and washed it all down and took a sloshing step to shut off the water.

A sloshy step? She stomped and splashed herself. DID THEY NOT HAVE DRAINS IN THE FUTURE EITHER!? Noel shut off the water and went for her bag, but it squished when she grabbed it. She picked it up and it was tough going, making a sucking sound as the suction the wet bag had created in covering what had to be a stupidly placed drain.

If there'd been a door none of this would have happened.

She dug around inside, but everything had at least some part of it soaked. She could maybe swing one of the shirts...? Or just walk out in a towel? Or summon bloody mary from the mirror and have her death be clean and quick.

"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." She waited a beat for her death, but even with low expectations, she was let down. Her foot tapped the trash can. The trash can with clean, dry and so not her style underoos.

... which was worse? Going commando? Or wearing Sideshow approved underwear?

She put on the darn undies and wrapped up in a protective layer of terry cloth. She dried her hair as best as she could and then peeked out into the dimly lit bedroom. Oh! And there was the blanket she'd left on the bed! Noel added that second layer and felt that much better about her life.

"There's no shower door." Just an offhand comment and not at all pretending like she was not terribly and completely not wearing only fancy underpants. "Might need to... borrow a shirt."

Ranger looked Noel in the eyes, she looked above his. Ranger could only guess that meant that she did not trust herself or that she didn’t trust her power at that moment. Upon that realization, his first instinct was to immediately avert his eyes. He fought his instinct and brought his eyes back to hers. If she felt she couldn’t look him in the eyes she could avert them, if she felt she could look him in the eyes at some point he would not be looking away.

He was putting a lot of trust in Noel, future Noel, and future himself.

“Thanks. A shower seems like the best idea. Er- are you needing one? I can go quick.”

”Take as long a shower as y’ need. I’ll be fine.” It wouldn’t be the first time Ranger took an ice cold shower. Not to mention they still didn’t know if it was gas or electric. If it was gas than it would still be making hot water.

They went separate ways. Noel went to take a shower and Ranger went outside into the cold and wet. Before stepping out into the rain to make his way around the cabin looking for wood, Ranger took a moment to breath. His arctic warfare training had mostly focused on combat tactics and survival. There was one half of a day that was dedicated to cold mitigation. Not by using warmers or by bundling up. By breathing.

Quickly, Ranger inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. Every breath as deep as he could. He did this upwards of thirty times before taking in and holding a deep breath. He held it until he needed another breath. He took in another and held it for ten seconds before exhaling. That done he focused on the task and set out into the rain.

The cold was still present, but his body responded more quickly than it would have otherwise. Moving blood to keep his core warm and reducing sensation of his extremities. The firewood was conveniently under a cover out back. It was as if the person who gathered it thought no one would ever need it. ”What kind of backwards pageantry is this?” Ranger shook his head. He would have to haul the wood through the rain all the way around the house to the door.

Looks like the cabin was getting a new place to store their wood. Ranger wasn’t coming back out in the rain and cold again if he could help it.

Ranger could carry all the wood at once… If he could get a hold of all the wood at once. Instead he had to carry several loads of wood around the house to deposit next to the front door. By the time he had finished, he was completely soaked and had mud and bits of wood all over his arms, chest… well pretty much everywhere.

The wood carried up, Ranger went back inside with an armload and set about building a fire. The wood was wet, but not too wet to burn. Blessedly. It took a little effort, but Ranger was able to get the fire going. Very slowly at first, but as the wood dried out it would get bigger.

“There’s no shower door.”

Ranger heard from behind him and turned to see Noel standing there wrapped in a towel.

“Might need to… borrow a shirt.”

Ranger narrowed his eyes a little. Why would she need to borrow a shirt? She had a duffel bag with clothes… OH! Ranger’s eyes widened as he realized what must have happened.

Noel flooded her clothes.

”Hope y’ like plaid. Looks like ten years from now it’s about all I have.” And there wasn’t anything wrong with that. ”There’s a couple in the bag. Take y’r pick.” Ranger gestured to his duffel bag and took a moment to appreciate the sight of Noel there only wearing a towel.

The fire having not picked up much yet combined with Ranger having slowed down from the manual labor of moving the firewood let the cold leech back into him. He had let his breathing exercise slack as he warmed himself through motion while moving the wood and now it was coming back to bite him. He shivered despite himself as he stood there, soaked all the way through by the rain.

The Ranger was looking a little bit dirtier than the last time she saw him. And considerably more wet. She goggled at him before remembering to avert her eyes. He still hadn't put on pants. That was unexpected.

> ”Hope y’ like plaid."

They crossed paths as she went for his bag and the Ranger went for the shower.

"Towels are up high in the cabinets." She thought to have him grab a candle, but he could see in the dark. What was the point?

Okay. She would be lying if she didn't peek over her shoulder. Noel buried her face momentarily into the blanket she was wearing like an overcoat. Yeah. Worth it. Hopefully she hadn't left too much of a mess in the bathroom with her clothes spread around to drip dry.

Noel dug around in the bag and clearly he wasn't kidding. At least he had undershirts. She took one of each, but for pants... she took all of the Rangers and stuffed them into the oven. If she couldn't have any, neither could he.

She went to asses the table. It was nearly pristine since all the drama had been on the floor. Noel scooted her fish onto his plate. Then her plate was sadly empty. She took it back to the stove and debated if she was hungry enough to start licking the handle of the pan the Ranger had used to cook. He might have left enough of a connection for her to get a cooking lesson, but... the only guarantee was to go straight to the source.

She wasn't that hungry anyway.

Noel cleaned up since that seemed like the polite thing to do. She put the leftovers in the fridge, mostly so they were out of sight. Dishes in the sink... ugh. She supposed that he cooked so that was on her. The real issue was having to drop her blanket to do it. Ranger wasn't so much bigger than she was. His shirts weren't fashionable shirt dresses. They were just shirts, meant to be shirt-length.

Range made his way to the shower. Noel made her way to Ranger’s duffle bag. As they passed each other, Noel told Ranger where the towels were.

”Thank y’.”

As he walked he undid the buttons of his sleeves. His hands shaking with cold. The shirt was a certifiable mess of wet, dirt, and log. He started unbuttoning it before he was even into the bathroom and once there he slid it off and rolled it on itself to keep all the mess of moving the logs contained. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, giving him a view of the heat contrast of the bathroom. He paused while his vision shifted and then set the inside out shirt onto the counter.

Noel was right. No door. The room just was a shower essentially. Ranger shut the door behind him, removed his boots and set them aside, dropped his ranger panties and kicked them away from where water would likely be, and turned on the shower.

The water started with a little warmth. Ranger did not hold out hope of it continuing. He had seen the water heater while outside. It didn’t look like a gas heater. This meant if he wanted to not freeze himself any further he would need to be quick.

Rinse off the larger debris that had gotten on his arms, legs, and face. Use what he found in the shower to clean himself. Relying on smell and tactile feel of the product to determine what was for his body, face, or hair. Not being able to see the words on labels was always a problem. No worse a handicap than Noel must have had though, she didn’t have any light so it was complete darkness for her.

Ranger could see the water getting colder. As he showered it grew darker and darker. And by the time he was done showering the entire shower had dimmed. As did his skin. He looked in the mirror before he grabbed a towel. His body was visibly colder than it had been before the shower. His shivering was back with a vengeance too. The warmness at the beginning of the shower had taken them away for a time.

Opening the high cabinets, Ranger found himself a towel. He furiously used it to dry himself. This removed water which was making him colder while also warming his skin somewhat. When he was as dry as he was going to get in the most humid room in the cabin, he wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom.

He hadn’t grabbed any clothes from his bag to bring with him. He didn’t want to clean himself off only to put on clothes that he had transferred the junk to by carrying them.

When he stepped into the main area of the cabin his eyes shifted back as he entered the candle and firelight.

Ranger looked to the fire. It had finally started catching on with the program. It was supposed to be warm and bright. No more sad and pitiful flames. The sound of dishes over the music playing softly from his phone drew his attention to Noel at the sink. Wearing his shirt. And the Sideshow special underwear.

Ranger stopped in his tracks to appreciate that for a moment.

”That's a sight I could get used t'.”


It was also excellent attire for a pants-off dance-off.

Glancing up, Noel noticed her own reflection was clearly cast back in the window above the sink. Barring disembowelment by Bloody Mary, which hadn’t worked out yet, now that Noel could clearly see herself, her usual method of handling her feelings was now an option.

Forget why you’re so flustered

Her vision was still expanding out from a pinpoint when she heard the Ranger comment. Crap. She’d probably caught her own eye accidentally. She shut off the water and processed what he’d said.

> ”That's a sight I could get used t'.”

Her temper flared like a flash in a pan. She pulled the pan back as if she’d throw it at him. ”What? Doing dishes?” A drip of water fell on her shoulder, on his shirt that was covering her shoulder, and her temper sizzled off just as fast. The Ranger was knife-proof.

”Ugh. Probably pan-proof.” It’d just bounce off him, and they’d done more that enough damage to the cabin already.

She fished around for a towel, dried, and put the pan away instead.

Aside from making an absolute bumbling mess of things, this was actually looking like a nice little vacation. The dark was cozy, the music was… still playing, and the company wasn’t half bad. Noel stepped out from a puddle of blanket, unsure of why it was there. The Ranger looked a bit chilly, though, so she threw that at him instead of the pan.

”Looks like you got the fire going.”

Ranger’s comment was met with fire. Noel pulled back a pan she had on hand in preparation to throw it while angrily asking ”What? Doing dishes?”

Raising his arms to protect his head, Ranger ducked to dodge the pan were it thrown his direction. ”N-n-nope! Not what I m-meant!” Ranger said through shiversThe pan didn’t come flying, but the towel was unwrapping itself as a result of his duck. He dropped his hands and grabbed at the material to stop it before it completely unraveled.

Perhaps not the best time to tell her what the comment was actually directed at. That could wait until she had disarmed herself.

”Ugh. Probably pan-proof.”

”I r-really hope cookware idn’t m-my one weakness.” It would be an incredibly niche weakness. Leaving him vulnerable to enemies in kitchens and the sections of Sears.

Instead of throwing the an, Noel found a towel and dried it instead. Ranger idly wondered why Noel, who had turned bright red when she had found the Sideshow provided underwear, was now wearing them didn’t seem in any way bothered by that fact. In fact, when she finished with the pan she picked up a blanket that was on the floor to throw it at him. She could have been using it to cover the once embarrassing panties.

Maybe it was just the difference of company? All those agency people and Ranger present versus just Ranger present. And it was, post the events of the train and fire, Ranger.

In any case, Ranger caught the blanket and wrapped it around him like a cloak.

”Looks like you got the fire going.”

Cloaked in the blanket of warmth, Ranger went to his duffel bag to find clothes. ”Yeah. In spite of owner’s best efforts t’ prevent it.” Ranger rummaged around in the duffel bag. ”Wood’s out back… Not well covered… Looks more like it’s f’r show than… use.” Ranger was now throwing everything onto the floor from the bag. ”There’s no pants.” He looked up at Noel. ”I could’ve sworn there were pants in here.” He looked back at the piles of clothes. Ranger panties, shirts, undershirts, socks. No pants. ”I guess we’re both rockin’ the panties than.” Ranger said as he grabbed a shirt and a pair of olive drab ranger panties.

His fear was in jest, surely, but it was genuine enough that he nearly lost his towel. She rolled her lips in on eachother and snorted. Really. It was for the best that she stowed the pan. She wandered over, scooping up his phone on her way as he got his clothes together.

"Your wood looks like it's working." The fire, that was. It was burning. Noel put the phone at on the hearth next to where she sat. If music was how he wanted to spend his battery life, that was on him. At least by the fire there wasn't a pervasive smell of Beautiful Day.

She only had a shrug for the pants. "I think I remember you tearing through a few pants." She teased him because it was not her problem, really. Nor were the underwear. A spike of pain warned her that she'd found a block. Probably her accidental one from earlier. Noel was all too happy to leave the thought of underwear alone. Instead, she pulled her legs up to keep them in range of the fire's warmth and politely turned her back so the Ranger could get dressed. The stone hearth was not at all conducive to turning, nor was it comfortable. But it was warm.

Her hair dripped. No matter how much she tried for dry, with just a towel it was gonna drip.

"You sound like you're freezing, come on and get in on this action." With very little connecting her to her feelings of attraction or shame, the entendres were going to continue to accidentally pile up. Noel pointed at the fire, smiling back at the Ranger over her shoulder. "Ohhhh look, I don't dare grab your pants. They're smokin'."

The blanket tossed, the pan disposed of, Noel made her way to the fire. She brought his phone along for the ride. The music it continued to play would eventually drain it but if, after he was warm again and dressed, he had another chance to dance with Noel it would be worth it.

“Your wood looks like it’s working.”

A totally innocent statement given the context of Ranger talking about the wood from out back. Given the almost loss of his towel… Well, the comment caught Ranger just right and he worked to suppress a chuckle.

“I think I remember you tearing through a few pants.”

Ranger smirked. The conversation was devolving into innuendo and entendre. Well, further devolving. ”True… T-though I only tore away the pants w-we were w-w-wearin’.” Ranger dropped the towel and blanket when Noel turned so he could put on a shirt and ranger panties. ”I g-guess y’ get me p-pantsless fff’r however long we’re here. L-l-lucky y-you.”

“You sound like you’re freezing, come on and get in on this action.”

”Don’t have t’ tell me twice.” Ranger said as he moved over to the fire. He left his towel lying on the floor. The blanket near it, but not so close as to get wet.

“Ohhhh look, I don’t dare grab your pants. They’re smokin’.”

Ranger shook his head and laughed. The whole situation was a mess and that comment hit him right in the giggle dick. He sat down next to Noel, working to reign in his laughter. The heat felt amazing on his cold skin. ”So’re y’rs.” Ranger said as his laughs died down and pointed at one leg of Noel’s pants poking out from under the logs.

The laughter finally gone, Ranger closed his eyes and let the heat from the fire warm him. It was nice. Just sitting in front of a fire, the sound of rain on the roof, Noel beside him, and no more Smell my Nuts or Beautiful day. Ranger leaned a little into the heat then cracked his eyes and looked over at Noel. He found himself willing the moment to never end.

Pantsless for the entire trip? Hers would dry some day. They would have to go out eventually, so eventually the man needed pants. Eventually.

He was… laugh-shivering? Maybe more of a guffaw. Guffawvering? Noel snorted, not even sure why she was so amused. Even the smoking remains of her own pants couldn’t derail the moment. She watched him settle in front of the fire, eyes closed as he soaked in the warmth. He just… was… and Noel ran up against the block again.

It was her nature to leave those alone. Usually they were on purpose. Usually they were important. She was pretty sure this one was not. It was new and she was falling into the bad habit of not leaving herself hints. It seemed like an accident. She gave it a half-hearted poke, but that was just mental imagery. It didn’t tell her anything.

He caught her looking and Noel looked away because… because…

The barrier in her head snapped and a rush of information dropped all at once that made Noel blush from her knees up to her hairline.

Oh. Because she liked him.

She bumped her shoulder against his, distracted by the fresh drumming in her chest. That was why she’d wiped it haphazardly and while he was gone. It had been her only chance to pretend she didn’t.

”All warmed up?”

At the Ranger’s look, Noel looked away. Then she blushed. Similar to her blush when she had produced the Sideshow undies from her bag, except more. At least, the Ranger thought it was more. This time Noel’s legs were visible.

He didn’t know what had just gotten into Noel, but he could only guess it had to do with him. They were having the most romantic of evenings by happenstance and Ranger certainly wasn’t making attempts to keep things professional between them. Hell, he was already wishing they could just stay in that cabin in that storm, in that night, forever.

Ranger was drawn out of his reverie by Noel bumping his shoulder.

“All warmed up?”

The fire had certainly done much to remove the chill from Ranger’s bones. And seeing its light reflected in Noel’s eyes added to a fire in himself. ”I’m gettin’ there.” Ranger said looking Noel in the eyes.

He moved one hand and set it on her hip.

According to the notes, Noel had wiped clean any sensitive memories that it was necessary she not have. He had searched his mind and the exact moments he knew were sensitive were gone. As if surgically removed. Just moments in time, he knew he should know with a level of detail so high he could write books about seconds, missing. Like a wall was there blocking access from any and all directions.

Ranger moved his head closer.

There was no reason why he couldn’t. To him there seemed every reason to. And his heart was a sledge hammer in his chest.

”Maybe y’ can help?”

Ranger leaned in to kiss Noel.