xp_logs | Ororo and Angelo, Saturday morning

Angelo retreats to the roof again, but Ororo comes to find him and they have a chat about Prague and other things.

This was turning into a habit, Angelo told himself wryly, leaning back on the base of the flyer's platform to look at the sky, lit cigarette already in hand. And it seemed mostly to be connected to the Prague situation, so far, when he'd found himself driven up here for some peace and quiet. And nicotine.

He wasn't the only one looking for peace and quiet up there - though the headmistress might've had an ulterior motive or two as she landed lightly on the platform right above Angelo. "Hello," Ororo greeted the young man, pausing for a moment before turning for the stairs to where he sat. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

He turned towards her, one hand coming up in a half-wave. "Nothin' really important. How're you?"

"Well enough, despite the repeated attempts of paperwork to drive me to the edge of insanity," Ororo replied with a rueful smile. "I thought perhaps a breath of fresh air would do me good. I see you share the same idea."

"To a certain value of fresh air, yeah", was the answer, with a gesture of his cigarette hand for demonstration. "I can put it out."

"No, that is fine." A small breeze wafted his way, blowing the smoke and smell in the opposite direction. With a smile Ororo came to sit by Angelo, letting her legs dangle a bit over the edge of the roof. "It always seems strange, returning here after a mission," she remarked, looking out over the neatly-manicured lawn in front of them. "Going from one extreme to the other... it can be a bit jarring."

"'s one way to put it, yeah", he said, staring out over the grounds with a note of tired experience in his voice that hadn't been there before. "Even with Muir in between."

"Yes. No matter how well you prepare yourself, it can seem almost like a dream being back here. I wish I could say that you become used to it, but... it is difficult to, no matter how often you do it."

He nodded slowly, not looking at her. "How do you do it?" he asked quietly. "See what's out there, an' then just come back an' go on like nothin's changed?"

"By accepting that things have changed, for better or for worse, and doing your best to move forward despite that. It does not work to deny that what you have seen," Ororo murmured. "And though it can be difficult to see all the nuances that may have shifted because of what happened, you can at least try to be aware of them. Even here, as far removed as we are from what most people would call 'real' life, there are repercussions. They may not be as large as the ones you have felt, but they are there."

His face twisted slightly, and he took a drag on the cigarette to cover it. "Go me. My first time out as an observer, an' I get somethin' even an X-Man calls big."

Ororo wanted to point out that he had certainly experienced similar situations already - San Diego, for one - but instead she kept quiet. "Every mission we go on changes a life, if not several. Our own, other people's, those who learn of what we've done... and it is not always for the better. It is not an easy life to choose."

He hadn't really considered San Diego to be on the same level - if only because there'd been all the supplies there that could be ferried in, and people could be taken out of the city. And he'd got there after the disaster, rather than witnessing it start to finish. "But we still keep comin' back to it."

"Yes. Some of us, at least. Those are cannot stand back and watch bad things happen." Except when they are forced to, she thought with a flare of impotent anger. "Like the Professor, and Nathan, and all the others on the team... for some reason, they have chosen to do this. Some people may admire them. Others may call them crazy."

"An' some may do both", he said with a half-grin, lifting his cigarette again. "In between followin' them into disaster areas an' burnin' buildin's."

Ororo had to smile at this. "I heard of what you did with Nathan. You handled things very well, Angelo. That is something to be very proud of."

"I couldn't do anythin' else", he said simply. "Not any of it, not really. I'm just glad I didn't freeze up before I even got in there."

"I think the dangers of that happening are far less than you imagine." Angelo was a bright young man, but more than that, he had already begun to figure out the right thing to do and how to follow it, despite the challenges. Ororo knew that putting difficult decisions in front of someone so young and relatively inexperienced could be asking for trouble, but somehow she didn't think it would be a problem with him.

"No, I don't mean... all of it. It's just... I don't have the greatest history with fire. It's kind of a thing... I don't know what I would've done at that hotel, if Nathan hadn't gone in first." Part of him was more than afraid he would have run.

Ororo glanced sideways at him, a sympathetic expression on her face. "I understand. It is unfortunate that sometimes we are faced with our greatest fears... and that sometimes, we do not acquit ourselves as well as we should. But that is why we are a team. What one person cannot accomplish, others can. We rely on each other to balance out our strengths and weaknesses."

Angelo swallowed slightly. "Yeah, an' I get that. But what if the rest of the team aren't right where you are, when you can't get the job done?"

"Then perhaps you fail." Ororo tried to soften her tone, but the message was still harsh, she knew. "We are not perfect, Angelo. We make mistakes. But one mistake does not negate all the good we have accomplished. You must keep telling yourself that."

That got a rueful grin. "Only if you keep helpin' me tell Nathan, too."

"Of course. Perhaps two can accomplish what one cannot," she replied with a chuckle. "Or, if two are unsuccessful, well... that is why we are a team."