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As he crossed the convention floor, Lucas was pretty sure that this was going to end badly. The fairy in the cage was trying to do her job, nothing more. Sure, her job was to use sex appeal on men but that wasn’t an invitation to be bothered by guys looking to score. Yet here he was, trying to meet her in an attempt to get his friend off of his back. He had no idea what he was going to say but Lucas continued to walk forward, frantically searching for something he could use to strike up a conversation. Nothing was coming to mind.

Reaching the foot of the young lady’s stage, Lucas looked up into her eyes and saw the bored expression hidden beneath the false pleasantness. She looked down at him with a hint of annoyance, as if she had been in this position a million times before and she was just waiting for him to try something so she could shut him down. Feeling guilty under her scrutiny, Lucas opened his mouth to try and explain but was startled from his plan by the sudden sound of a drill powering up beside his ear.

“Hi” the cute, dark haired woman said cheerfully as she flashed two rows of pearly white teeth. “In the market for some tools?”

Lucas didn’t know what was more ridiculous; that he had been dragged to a tool convention to pick up women or that Lawrence might actually be right and this worked. He had been pressured into talking to the blonde in the fairy costume but before he managed to open his mouth, another model had crossed the aisle and intercepted him. It seemed she had abandoned her post in an obvious attempt to talk to him. Now, the young man stood in front of a gilded cage with a scantily clad fairy inside, another provocatively dressed woman trying to chat him up before he could make his move. Were girls at these conventions really that desperate?

The true irony was that Lucas wasn’t even interested in picking up either of them. It wasn’t that he didn’t find both of them physically attractive but his romantic life was already way to complicated. Adding fairy folk or power tool operators to his love life could only make it worse. He had been forced into this situation and now here he was, one model trying to steal him away from the other. It was another of the universe’s cruel jokes and he felt like the punch line.

Smiling as politely as he could Lucas turned to face the newcomer. She was aggressive, her dazzling blue orbs not breaking eye contact as if she was a predator hungrily assessing her next victim. It made Lucas a bit uneasy. He would try to let her down gently if he could.

“To be quite honest,” Lucas said “The tool that brought me here is already too much to handle.”

It was meant to be funny but when the words left Lucas’ mouth he regretted them instantly. He had been referring to his friend and hadn’t considered a possible double meaning until it was too late. Instead of telling the attractive young model he wasn’t interested, the young man had inadvertently hit on her in the rudest way possible. Lawrence would have been proud.

Lude comments began to fly as the guys around the gym noticed the pair standing at the door. Lucas shot dirty glances around in an attempt to dissuade further stupidity but it seemed to only encourage the behavior. The coach approached the ropes of the ring and popped his small frame between them before dropping to the ground and storming towards his wayward fighter. McMillan’s face was turning a bright crimson color and Lucas knew this was going to be a tough conversation. At least Noel was there. Having a strange attractive girl standing by his side might help reduce the furious tirade that would probably be directed at him shortly. If the old man could see her and understand that they were her one chance at help, maybe he could be persuaded to let her stay.

“I’ll shower” Noel said absent mindedly as the angry man approached. Pulling the long sniper rifle from under the sweater, she handed it to Lucas and went sauntering off towards the ladies room. The cat calls died off significantly as the weapon came into view, now cradled in Lucas’ hands for all to see. He closed his eyes and let out a defeated breath while wishing the world would open and swallow him up.

“I’m so dead.” Lucas thought to himself.

“You! Office! Now!” the coach screamed as he plowed right past Lucas. Entering the office at the base of the stairs, the old man turned and stood at the entrance to hold the door open, tapping a foot impatiently.

Not knowing what to say, Lucas tried to force out an explanation but his brain had turned to mush. “But…I…um…”

The coach’s red face turned a special shade of purple as he exploded. “NOW!”

Lucas’ feet lurched forward on instinct and he sped past the man and into the small room before his brain could comprehend the action. The door slammed shut behind him loudly.

“Sit.” The man instructed curtly, his anger barely in check, while stepping around the desk and sitting down himself. Lucas did as instructed so as not to infuriate the smaller man more.

McMillan raised his hand up and rubbed it on his bald head in an attempt to ease his frustration.

After a moment, he started to quietly talk while continuing to rub his scalp. “This place requires focus and dedication.” He began. “When I brought you in here, I expected that from you as well as a level of respect.”

Lucas opened his mouth to defend himself but the glare his coach gave him at that exact moment caused the young man’s throat to seize and he shut it again instantly. The older man continued on. It was now understood that silence was expected until further notice.

“When you come back from a morning run five hours late, with some drugged up street walker carrying a rifle under her shirt you are disrespecting this establishment and what we do here. This is my world. I allow you to be here because I see potential in you. The moment I can’t see that any more, you can go back to wherever you came from.”

A single sincere nod seemed the best response so Lucas did just that.

“You have anything to say for yourself before I kick your butt out?” McMillan asked.

Taking a moment, Lucas considered his options. The rifle in his hands felt heavy and was an anchor pulling him down right now. Noel couldn’t have picked a worse time to hand it to him. What could he say to possibly explain why he needed to help this woman? He couldn’t think of anything that would make sense to the man in front of him.

Lucas trusted his coach, but the old man had no idea who he really was as they had never talked about their pasts. This man had accepted him into his gym without prejudice and let him define himself by his actions alone. Disappointing him was the worst thing Lucas could do and he felt horrible that it had come to that. The past didn’t matter here. Everyone left it behind them and Lucas had gotten the opportunity to start fresh under this man’s roof. Now, his past was coming back to haunt him and risking what he had regained of himself. Lucas could never escape who he was and he found himself envying Noel at that moment. She was unburdened by the pain and regret that memories could provide.

Swallowing hard, Lucas steadied his nerves to speak. “Yes. I have something to say.” He said. “I want to tell you about the man I was when the woman in the bathroom saved me a month ago.”

Lucas told the old man everything. About his family as he grew up and where he learned to fight. He told the man about his mutation and what he could do as well as how he had used it at the retirement home in Florida when taking care of his grandmother and the fears he had of being exploited. The embarrassment of his descent to the streets after his grandmother’s death was still difficult but he shared it too. Nothing about him was off limits.

He told his coach about Noel and how she had come into his life. Her memory problems and the difficulties it caused were also expressed but the true cause was clouded. It was her right to have secrets in her life and to tell him she was a mutant felt like a betrayal of trust. Lucas explained how he had found her in Battery Park that morning but left out the Asylum and the escape that went with it. When it came to the rifle, the only thing he could think to say is that it was hers.

It had felt good to finally get his past on the table. Now it was up the old man before him to decide what he wanted to do. Lucas stopped and waited for the coach to speak.

“I guess she can stay a little while.” McMillan sighed. “But tell your friend she has to wear pants from now on, ok?”

The sound of moronic male comments started up in the gym again and Lucas turned around to see Noel coming out of the bathroom in nothing but his sweater. Her shapely legs poured out below a very revealing hemline and it was hard not to appreciate their smooth, freshly showered glow.

Forgetting the rifle on the table, Lucas turned and bolted from the room to intercept the woman.

McMillan reached out and took the rifle. He examined it for a moment before slipping it behind his desk. The coach sighed again and shook his head.

"Kids." He muttered to himself, amuzed.

“I think the name kind of suits you.” Lucas said with a smile. “Why mess with perfection. Noel it is. Maybe you should change your last name to something more hip and modern though? What do you think of Agance? It has a really nice ring to it when you say it out loud with your first name.” Lucas was unable to hide his smirk. He mentally prepared himself for the smack that would surely come when Noel figured out the joke.

*****

A couple of minutes later, the couple walked under the bridge and Lucas could see the single story building which had become his home up ahead. It was early afternoon and the bridge above placed long shadows on the street, making the red brick of McMillan’s seem almost gray. At this time of day, there was a good chance the coach would be in his office or on the gym floor imparting wisdom. Either way, there would be no sneaking past him. Lucas still wasn’t sure how he would explain why he was bringing a woman home to live in the back room after disappearing for the day but hoped he would come up with something clever on the fly.

“That’s my place up ahead” Lucas said with a nod. “It isn’t fancy I’m afraid. Just a small place in the basement of a gym but it does the job.”

Thinking about it more, his place was pretty small. Lucas never really considered the logistics of a roommate thoroughly until now. They would have to make do somehow. There was always the padding on the exercise floor after closing if need be. Not the best living conditions he’d ever had but better than an alley. He owed the woman that much.

As they came up beside the building, Lucas stepped around the side and hid the axe in some bushes he had planted a couple of weeks back. “I’m going to leave it here for now. Be a bit tough to explain to the coach I think. I’ll put it with the rest of my tools later.”

He couldn’t keep the axe with him now and as Noel gave it as a gift, it was tough to throw away right there in front of her. He would probably clean it off and use it for gardening or other axe related chores. Tree cutting in Brooklyn, defence against zombie attacks...whatever use presented itself. The thought of asking Noel to hide her new rifle as well crossed his mind but by the way she cradled it under his sweater, it didn’t seem likely so he just dismissed the idea.

Taking a deep breath, Lucas decided it was time to face the music. “Let’s go meet the boss.” He said as he went back around to the large green door at the front.

Lucas pulled out the crumpled tin foil hat and tossed it through the open window to land on John’s lap. “Take care of yourself.” He said just before the taxi drove off.

With John gone, Lucas was free to focus on his original goal of helping Noel. As long as a bus didn’t explode or flaming ninjas didn’t attack from the bushes, it would be easier now that it was just the two of them. He turned and got a chance to really look at her for the first time since the park that morning.

The blue patient issue pants were oversized and hung loosely on her frame, almost covering the Government Issue slippers she wore on her feet. Her hair had turned feral with the excitement of the day and her locks had taken on a life of its own. Lucas’ running sweater made Noel look tiny, like a girl wearing her father’s top. The barrel of John’s rifle stuck out from the neck of the sweater and the wooden stock from the bottom. The ensemble was not completed with a hand bag, but a hatchet covered in the strange paralytic mucous.

But she was still beautiful to him. He saw through the disheveled outer shell to the woman underneath. The childlike innocence shrouded by unwavering will power was still shining through. Despite the insane chaos of the day, she was still alert and ready to face wahter happened next. Those brown eyes that seemed to capture every detail seemed to be peering into his soul now. Her full lips, curling ever so slightly on the side thanks to her scar, were both teasing and inviting as the woman waited to follow his lead. She was oblivious to the hold she had on him. He didn’t quite understand it himself.

“So I thought I would take you back to my place and you can hang out there until we can think of what to do next.” Lucas said cheerfully, shaking his personal thoughts free and cramming them back down to a back shelf.

“We could walk along the harbor front until we get there. It isn’t far.” He added. “I understand that you might not know who you are and it is tough but maybe that’s a blessing. The past is overrated sometimes. Figuring out who you want to be might be a better way to go?”

Giving her his best friend smile, he decided to wrap up his sermon. It was already coming out to preachy and it would be best to quit while he was ahead. “Either way, you’re welcome to crash at my place as long as it takes for you to figure that out.”

Lucas didn’t know if Noel would ever figure out her past and it was a sad thought. He hadn’t grown up in the best of environments but it was what helped define who he was in the end. To not have that history as a reference would be difficult. With her memory problems compounding the issue, Noel would need support and time to get through this new chapter of her life. Lucas hoped he could be a constant and help her get there.

“Now what do you say we figure out a way to disassemble that rifle so you don’t look like some crazy guy in a bell tower with mommy issues?” he suggested.

Lucas tried to give John a meaningful look to express the precarious position a quadriplegic could be in if left on the curb in Brooklyn by himself. He might not have understood the thought word for word but he got the general idea and shut his mouth.

“Where to pal?” the cabby asked as he drove along the streets of Brooklyn.

It was a valid question. Where was there left to go? Any location Noel had put on her map was compromised. They had gotten lucky escaping the goon squad so far. He couldn’t count on their luck saving them again. That meant that Noel and Lucas would have to lay low somewhere that wouldn’t appear in her notes. Though he didn’t want to bring trouble to the man who had given him a place to stay, Lucas didn’t see another option.

“My friend is going to LaGuardia. You can drop us off somewhere near the Brooklyn bridge.” Lucas told the cab driver.

John might not want to go to New Jersey but it seemed a safe bet he would regain his ability to move and speak as he took the long drive to the airport. At least he had a minimum of eighty dollars in his pocket so he could afford the trip. Lucas’s fingers and arms had already regained most of their feeling and he could move them a little with effort now. The odds were good that John would be fully recovered before leaving Manhattan and could make his own decisions on where to go them.

Lucas turned his attention to Noel now, trying to think of how to explain the situation so as not to make things worse. She saw the world with such a black and white view. If only life could be that simple.

“Noel, we aren’t the bad guys.” He tried to explain. “There are enough witnesses to give an account of what happened. We have to let the police do their jobs. Don’t worry; I’m sure the bad men will get what they deserve.”

*****

Pressing send on his cell phone, Lloyd put the device to his ear and waited. It only rang once before a nervous sounding Doctor Peterson picked up the other end.

“Hello? Lloyd? Did you get her?” He asked, his anxiety showing through..

“Dey gowt away boz.” Lloyd answered simply.

Peterson became agitated when he heard the news. “What do you mean they got away? Track them you idiot! Why are you calling me if you didn’t get her?”

With a nasally voice, Lloyd tried to fill Peterson in on the important details. “I can’t twack dem. Dey bwoke my nose. Oh yah, Flowence and Jenkins are in an abuwance going to da hospitaw wight now awso. Can you tawk to the powice and tew dem to wet me go?”

Silence followed the request to be broken by a click and dial tone.

*****

Peterson stared at the phone nervously after hanging up. He chewed his nails out of reflex as the consequences of the day went through his head. He was going to have to call his boss to explain what had happened. It wasn’t a particularly appealing thought and he wondered if his employer would be more lenient with their underlings then he was.

When Noel stopped running and slipped from his hand, Lucas turned just in time to watch it happen. The bald man with the goatee had smiled while he punched Noel in the stomach. She fell to the ground, doubled over in pain. Lucas watched her drop to her knees, clutching her gut with her arms, unable to save her once again.

All Lucas wanted was to help Noel like she had helped him. These people couldn’t let it go. This hospital and their staff were destroying everything in their path so they could hold onto Noel and Lucas had had enough. He caught the orderly’s eyes and held them fast by force of will alone.

“You’re dead.” Lucas promised as his face contorted in Rage.

Anger fueled him as the fighter stepped in without hesitation. The thought of destroying the man with the goatee was all that registered in his mind. Lucas had been training for many years to be a boxer. It was a sport that was considered almost gentlemanly with its strict rules on proper etiquette. Despite the inherent violence, it was more about skill and mutual respect than the showmanship that can be found on ‘HBO Fight Night’ every Friday. Any protection the goon may have gained from the long history of boxing went out the window the moment he hit Noel.

The left hook connected squarely on the side of the bald man’s kidney and he bent like a sapling in the wind. As his head went down, it met with a powerful uppercut, lifting him back up onto the heels of his feet. The white clothed man staggered backwards, desperately trying to regain his footing but Lucas followed closely, not letting him recover. Punches flew out, seemingly from all directions. The orderly tried to protect himself with his arms but it was useless. Every time he turned, he was met with another vicious series of blows from a new direction.

The battered man tried to fall to the ground and submit but before he could make it to the safety of the side walk, he felt an iron like grip take hold of him by the bicep and pull him back up to stand, only to let go and continue to pound him mercilessly once again. The world began to swim and the ringing in his ears started to become distant when the punishment suddenly stopped. He teetered on his feet, amazed he was still standing through the ordeal. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes as wide as he could through swollen lids to see the mutant standing before him with his fists clenched and dripping, what he assumed, was his blood. There were several gaps in his smile now where teeth used to be and he was acutely aware of places that hurt across his body that he never knew existed until now.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled through his cracked and inflated lip.

“But not for the right reasons.” Lucas growled back, throwing a final punch that sent the man tumbling into unconsciousness.

The battered mess slammed into the cement like a bag of meat and Lucas looked up to see Lloyd coming through the restaurant door farther down the alley. He sniffed the air once and the pale skinned tentacles slithered back out of his sleeves as the strange mutant turned to face Lucas.

“Done running already?” he asked him.

Whipping one of his appendages outward, he slapped the blond orderly and John, throwing them against a nearby wall. The slimy goo that coated them, solidified near instantly and stuck them to the surface, trapped like some warped piece of modern art.

“Disappointing.” Lloyd clucked as he shook his head in mock pity.

Lucas didn’t bother to answer him. He bolted forward to close the gap so he could get his hands on the man instead. He wasn’t fast enough. The whip like tentacles snaked out and wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his side and soaking his torso with sludge. The substance began to harden almost instantly but that was not the only danger. The liquid had other properties. Lucas felt the skin where he had been gripped begin to turn cold until all feeling left the area. His arms were paralyzed in seconds, refusing to respond to his commands to fight for freedom.

Pulling him in close, Lloyd prepared to gloat over his victory.

“I’ve been doing this a long time.” He said. “Don’t feel bad, you didn’t really stand a chance.”

Looking over Lucas’ shoulder, the buck toothed man noticed Noel regaining herself and getting back to her feet. He looked back into Lucas’ eyes and smiled evilly as he brought him close. “I hope she runs. She smells delicious and I am really enjoying hunting her.”

Lucas pulled his head back and drove it forward into the other man’s face before Lloyd could realize what was happening. The paralysis had never reached Lucas’ neck. He felt the crunch against his forehead as both the glasses and Lloyd's nose shattered from the impact. The tentacles loosened and dropped the young man to his feet as Lloyd fell backwards, clutching his face and moaning with surprise and pain. It was easy to wrap a leg behind him while he was stunned and drop him to his back. The snake like appendages flopped around on the ground like fishes on a dock, leaving crystallized resin splotches about the alley floor.

Lucas lifted his foot above the prone man and held it there for a moment. “What can you smell now Squidward?” Lucas asked just before he brought his heel crashing down.

Lucas listened to what John had to say and took it all in. There wasn’t a huge amount of useful information about Noel’s past but a pattern was there. She seemed to take in strays and he had been one of them. When it came to Lucas, John had a surprising amount of knowledge considering he had lived on the street. He wanted to ask how the strange man came about his information but decided against it. He was already getting more help than he expected.

When John told Lucas he was finished, there was a quick exchange of money and the pair walked towards the door. John opened it for him and waited. There was no reason to drag it out.

“Not sure if you will care or not but when the Feds took Noel into custody, she carried a map with her. She had put a bunch of notations on it to help her remember. I saw it once and you were on that map. Not your name but and address under the heading ‘healer’. When I got a hold of her file at the hospital, the map was already gone. Thought you should know.”

Lucas extended his arm to shake John’s hand. “Thank you for your help. You’re a good guy and I wish we could have met under different circumstances. If you ever need anything, I’m guessing you’ll know where to find me after that little chat.”

Lucas didn’t expect to see the man again.

-----

The door closed behind him and Lucas pulled the tinfoil hat from his head and stuffed it in his pocket. Slumped down against the wall in front of him, Noel slept peacefully. She had pulled the hood of Lucas’ sweater up over her head and looked like a little gnome. Sure, John had warned him she was dangerous but how dangerous could such a cute little creature really be.

As gently as he could, Lucas reached an arm behind her back and another under her knees. They couldn’t sleep here and he didn’t have the heart to wake her. His place was a bit of a walk and she was pretty light. There was a good chance he could make it. They could come back and investigate her apartment tomorrow after she slept off the effects of whatever medication the doctors had given her.

His leg nearly buckled as he stood up with the woman in his arms and he limped down the stairs as carefully as he could so as not to wake her. It was slow going but thanks to John’s attention, his body was only a bit sore for the most part. Lucas’s nose caught a scent of Noel’s hair as he cradled her and it helped his memories return to that night when they had curled up together. Holding this woman felt good and despite everything that had happened, he was happy to have found her again. Reaching the landing, the young man hobbled across the tiled floor towards the door. The glass of the front entry allowed him to see the rusted white bus as it drove past. The bold blue lettering on the side was unmistakeable. “Greenwich House Mental Care Facility”.

He was going to have to wake the poor woman up after all.