xp_logs | Sooraya and Angelo | backdated to Monday afternoon

When everybody's favorite replacement father figure hasn't been heard from in a week, they start worrying. Sooraya goes to Angelo for assurance, and ends up volunteering to tidy up the office. Hey, some people cope by cleaning.

Sooraya wasn't normally one to worry unnecessarily. She knew from experience that life would be life no matter what you thought about it, and there wasn't any point to fussing over things you couldn't change. But... but. Nathan had been gone for over a week and she was getting worried. Not because he couldn't handle himself, but because she knew that he was involved in some very dangerous things, and sometimes not even a burning bird was enough to keep you safe.

She had tried asking Angel and some of the other students about his whereabouts, but they all seemed to have other things on their minds. Finally she crossed the wide lawn to the boathouse, hoping that someone there would know what was going on.

Angelo had been keeping on top of running the office by himself, but it was about as much as he could do, while still making time for social stuff when Amanda or Sarah insisted. He looked up distractedly at the knock on the door and called out, "Door's open!"

Peeking in, Sooraya was relieved to see a familiar face at the desk. She pushed open the door and shuffled in, hands clasped in front of her. "Hello," she said, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything important. "I do not want to be here if you are busy..."

"Not too busy", he assured her, mostly truthfully. He was glad of the break, anyway. "What can I help you with?"

"I am... thinking about Nathan," Sooraya said hesitantly. "He is gone many days." She tried to keep from looking too worried, though her expression was always a little drawn. "Where is he, please?"

Angelo looked at her carefully, then reached out to pat one of the empty chairs in the office. "He... went to Israel, where our other office is. And I think he was going from there to Tajikistan. There was a problem with a friend of his."

"Oh." Perching on the seat, Sooraya chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully. "What problem?" she decided to ask, at last.

...it probably couldn't hurt to tell her, especially since he didn't really know many details. "He went missing", was the answer. "An' I'm pretty sure Nathan went to try an' find him, to bring him back to Israel."

She couldn't say that was surprising; Nathan looked out for those in his clan, she knew that. Still, it had been some time, and no one seemed to know where he was. "Now Nathan is missing?"

"No", Angelo said hastily, trying to come across as sincerely believing it. "I'm sure he's fine. He just probably... went somewhere where his phone won't work." His very, very functional satellite phone.

She nodded, though she was a bit dubious about whether he actually meant that. Still, he knew better than her, especially about things like technology and travel. "I hope he is not hurt. I hope his friend is not hurt too."

"You an' me both", he said with a faint crooked smile. "But... he's come through a lot of stuff an' been okay." After a while. "An' he promised he'd be careful."

~There are some promises that cannot be kept.~ "If he is hurt... who can find him?" Sooraya looked at Angelo with wide eyes, almost afraid to hear the answer. Who would rescue the rescuer?

"If it goes much longer an' no one hears from him", Angelo said seriously, "I'll tell the team what's goin' on. An' I'll go with them."

"That is good." Relaxing a little, she smiled hesitantly. She had heard of the team and knew that they were equipped to deal with eventualities that normal pepole wouldn't be able to handle.

"It'll be okay, Sooraya", he said quietly, with a reassuring smile of his own. "On other things... how're you settlin' in?"

"I am fine," Sooraya replied bashfully. "I like school... it is very good." Difficult, but rewarding. Each class was a challenge, but her comprehension of spoke English was increasing by leaps and bounds, at least when the speaker enunciated and did not rush. "I am learning very much."

"Your English is gettin' a lot better", he said approvingly. "Lookin' at how it was when you first got here... a lot better."

"Thank you," she said, dropping her gaze to her knees. She still wasn't used to how generous they were with praise here; it was a nice change, but a change nonetheless. "You are good, too?"

"I'm well enough", he said with a grin, looking around the room. "Kept good an' busy, but no complaints there."

Bobbing her head, Sooraya glanced around as well, approving of the neatness and tidiness of everything. It must be difficult, keeping organized among all the work that they accomplished in the office. Suddenly, an idea dawned on her and she looked back at Angelo inquisitively. "Here, do you need help?" she asked. "I can help... to clean."

He followed her glance around the room, then smiled. "Well, we've got a secretary... but she only works durin' the week. If you wanted to, I can't see why you shouldn't come in an' help keep it tidy on weekends."

"Yes?" Sooraya sat up straighter, excited, and beamed at Angelo. "I will like to help. Thank you."

Angelo grinned. "I'll talk to Nate about it when he gets back, just to make sure it's okay, but I can't see where it'd be a problem. An' you can start before that, if you really want."

"Thank you," Sooraya said again, nodding. "It can help my learning, too," she added, knowing that the more practice she got, the better. Maybe she could even learn how to do the more complicated tasks, like filing and sorting papers.

"Sure it will", he said, smiling at her. "We'll get you readin' the reports in no time."