Nathan and Ororo, Angelo (and Domino)

[x-cable.livejournal.com]

Back at the mansion, Nathan is still unsettled, and tells Ororo he needs a little time off. He becomes more unsettled when he remembered what happened a year ago Wednesday. Angelo invites himself along, and when Nathan finds out Domino's in town, he decides that the more, the merrier. And they have a very good reason for going to New Hampshire.


The suggestion at the debriefing had been to get some sleep. Nathan had actually intended to do just that, but Moira and Rachel had been gone when he'd gotten back, returning to Muir a day earlier than usual. A case that had required her attention, Moira's note had said. Nathan had struggled briefly with an irrational sort of resentment -it wasn't as if he'd told her where the team was going, after all, and if she'd known it was Youra he imagined she would have stayed if at all possible - and then given up on the idea of sleep. The boathouse was just too quiet.

He'd similarly discarded the idea of work after an hour or three of sitting around in the too-quiet office, staring off into space. Looking for company was utterly unappealing, as that would require him to talk. It had taken another hour of blank staring, at the BBC this time, before he'd remembered what Ororo had said at the debriefing. That anyone who felt like they needed to cancel their classes the next day to catch up on sleep was welcome to do so, and she'd arrange to have them covered.

Nathan didn't have any intention of sleeping. But getting out of here - that had a certain appeal. Edgy and restless, he paced around the upstairs level of the boathouse, his thoughts going around in circles. Where and what, that was the question.

Enough, he finally thought, and headed down the stairs. Out of here first. Decisions later. His stride brisk and purposeful, he headed up the path to the mansion, registering absolutely no one he passed on the way to Ororo's suite.

She had never really been one for interior decorating - as long as there were enough windows and green growing things scattered about, she was happy. But since returning from Africa she had pondered changing things about a little, in order to make it look a little more like... well, home. She had just taken out a bolt of yellow-and-red striped cloth and was surveying the living room area for a likely spot to place it when there came a short knock at the door. Ororo paused and then set down the bolt, not hiding it from sight before she advanced across the room to open the door.

"You'd said something about canceling classes, if we wanted?" Nathan said brusquely, not bothering with 'hello' or any other niceties. The fact that he was being rude didn't even register. A lot of things weren't registering today.

"Er, yes..." Ororo glanced up at Nathan's expression, then stepped back, inviting him into the front room with a sweep of her hand. "Yes, of course, if you need a break. Shall I consider this an official request, then?"

What was wrong with talking in the hall? Nathan stepped in, grudgingly. "Yes," he said, then paused for a moment. "Please." There. "Just... cancel them." He didn't want to be thinking about lesson plans and marking right now.

"Of course. Is this just for tomorrow's classes, or..." She trailed off, putting one hand on her hip as she contemplated the most tactful way to put it. "If you need a longer break, Nathan, I can arrange coverage for your classes." He looked... wound-up, and though she didn't blame him for wanting a break from classes, there was something in his manner that said a single day of rest might not be enough.

"I don't know..." Why was she making him think through this? It took a real effort to keep his expression set, not let the frustration or anything else slip out. "I'm leaving. I don't want to have to think about this."

...leaving? "Excuse me?" Ororo murmured, tilting her head to one side curiously. "Where are you going? And for how long?" She certainly didn't want to pester him with questions, but it was only natural as headmistress and team leader that she needed to be informed of any extended absences.

Nathan flushed. "Fine. It's what, the seventh?" Give her a timeframe, get her out of his hair. "If I'm not back by the tenth..." His voice was gone, all at once. The tenth. The tenth of January. Three more days, and it would be... oh, God...

"If you are not back by the tenth?" Ororo prompted Nathan when he didn't continue. "You do not have an exact plan?"

"No," Nathan said, the flash of anger gone as quickly as it had come. The tenth, already. A year, already. "I don't. I realize it's awkward, but I only have the one class this term-" He'd ended the reading groups at Christmas, although a few of those students were doing independent studies in this term. "-and I always have a couple of weeks' worth of library assignments available. They're in the Russian drawer in my file cabinet."

"Oh. Very well." Ororo nodded, shifting to cross her arms over her chest. "A couple weeks is a long time, Nathan," she continued in a softer tone. "And I do not mean to question you, but leaving without a plan for return is..." Exactly what you did? "You cannot at least say where you will be?"

He hadn't said he'd be gone for a couple of weeks. Had he? "I don't think I'll be that long." He would have to call Moira. Maybe from the road? He could leave a message. "I just need to be away for a while." Some of the tightness in his chest loosened. "It's not just the mission," Nathan went on, as evenly as he could. "Wednesday, it'll be a year since... I just need to clear my head." And as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew what he wanted to do.

"Of course, Nathan. As I said, take whatever time you need..." Ororo wondered how closely the older man was skirting a breakdown - she didn't like the look in his eyes at all - and contemplated contacting Moira on Muir. "I will see that things are taken care of here. Just... take care. Be careful. Please."

His smile was a somewhat ghastly thing. "Hey, I'm working on a really nice long stretch of not mangling myself these days, Ororo. I intend to keep it up. I walked away from Youra without a scratch, didn't I?" He looked away, smiling a tight, brittle smile. "Wouldn't have recognized the place. They demolished the training barracks, you know."

Ororo returned the smile as best she could, resisting the urge to force Nathan to sit down on the couch until Dr. Samson could be fetched. Or even Amelia... she could keep him at the mansion, couldn't she? "No, I didn't know that," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I have read the reports, of course, but I do not think they mentioned that. I am glad you returned unharmed, that you all returned unharmed. I must admit I was worried, at least a little, for you all." And grateful that I did not have to be there, myself. However wrong that was

"No need to worry. It was...a cakewalk. Youra was a cakewalk," Nathan said, as if trying the words on for size, or maybe repeating them to himself because two of those words in one sentence just didn't make any sense. Youra. Cakewalk. Youra was a cakewalk. "I wonder if there'll be a post-op Harry's... thing. Toasting Kurt and Shiro for getting back in the saddle, and Clarice for her first combat mission... you don't think they'll mind if I skip out, do you? Team bonding is not high on my priority list just now. I'll make it up to them later."

"I am sure they will understand," Ororo murmured. Was it her imagination, or was he backing slowly towards the door? "So do not worry about that. Just concentrate on yourself. It was... nice to see you." He was definitely edging.

She was letting him go. Good. The way she'd been looking at him a minute ago, he'd been wondering if she'd... well, not that it would have mattered. He was, like it or lump it, leaving.

"... you too, Ororo," he said a bit distantly, and turned, walking out of the room without another word.

Well. At least things hadn't changed much in her absence. Now, paperwork to arrange Nathan's class, or more decorating? Strangely enough, instead of heading to her office, Ororo drifted back over to the couch and picked up the fabric she had draped there earlier. Maybe some things had changed, after all.

--

The gear he needed was in the downstairs hall closet. He'd grab that last. Right now, he needed clothes. Warm clothes. Layers, Nathan thought dimly, yanking open drawers.

It took him an alarmingly long time to notice someone standing in the doorway watching him pack, all things considered. "Goin' somewhere?"

"Yes. Out." Nathan kept on doing what he was doing, not looking at Angelo. He'd call Moira from the road.

"Out where?" Angelo asked patiently.

"Out climbing. I need to clear my head." Angelo had access to the team journal, he knew where they'd been. And if he thought about it, he'd remember what Wednesday was, too. Nathan didn't feel like explaining.

Angelo nodded slowly. "Okay. You'll be needin' a climbin' partner, though." It was emphatically not a question.

Nathan stopped, giving him a long, level look. "You don't climb."

"I can learn." He returned the look in spades.

The look turned into a glare. "I have soloed. On. K2. I don't need a partner to climb-" Where was he going, anyway? Nathan growled in frustration and turned away. "I need socks."

"I don't care where you've climbed", Angelo said flatly. "This time, you need a partner, an' you're not goin' without me."

"I want to climb!" Nathan snapped at him, angry color rising in his face. "Not play climbing instructor!" Calm down, he thought, and took a deep, unsteady breath. "Besides," he went on in a more moderate tone, "you wouldn't like ice climbing. And I think I'm going to the Adirondacks."

"Never know what you like 'til you've tried it", Angelo retorted. "An' thanks for tellin' me, now I can follow you if you try an' sneak out."

Oh, to be able to throw him in the lake from here... Nathan just glared at him and kept packing.

"Oh, yeah", came the casual comment from behind him. "An' Domino's in New York."

Nathan dropped his socks. "She's what?" he asked, bending over to pick them up. "Why is she-" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew why. He wasn't the only one who marked anniversaries. "She wants to see me, doesn't she. Did you tell her I was on a mission?"

"Yep. An' that you'd expected not to be gone more'n a day or two."

Nathan stopped, trying to think. "Is she with Pete?" he asked a bit vaguely. "Or... the usual hotel?"

"Hotel", Angelo told him. "Or that's where she's technically stayin' anyway. Probably spent some time at Pete's anyway."

Nathan sat down on the edge of the bed. No longer in motion, it was perfectly obvious that he was tired, the lines of fatigue sharply noticeable in the sunlight coming from the window. "I should call her."

"Yeah, you should", Angelo said more quietly. "She does want to talk to you."

Nathan stared at the phone for a moment. It floated over to his hand, and he dialed her cell phone number from memory. "Hi," he said after a moment. "Do you want to go to New Hampshire?"

Angelo blinked at him from his place in the doorway. "...what, Domino gets to go to... New Hampshire?"

Nathan didn't react to Angelo's comment. "Yes," he said after another pause, "that's what I had in mind. You're sure you're not a telepath?" Another pause. "No, I don't have spares. We can go shopping. The boy might be coming, too."

"Might?" Angelo mouthed at him indignantly.

"... no, he didn't tell me he took you out for dinner. You didn't do anything to him, did you?"

Angelo just grinned at Nathan from the doorway, choosing not to comment.

Nathan didn't roll his eyes. Quite. "All right. We'll be an hour, an hour and a half. No," he said more crossly, "I didn't check the weather. Does it matter? ... I didn't think so. See you shortly." He hit disconnect, then looked up at Angelo. "Go pack," he said brusquely. "Your cold-weather gear from the Kazakhstan trip, too."

The grin turned into an honest, boyish smile, and he straightened up from the doorway. "I can come?"

"Yes. And if you complain about the cold, I'm going to laugh at you," Nathan said, getting up and going back to the dresser.

"Not one word", Angelo promised, turning to hurry to his room and start packing.

--

They pulled up in front of the Hotel Elysee, and Nathan leaned forward, arms folded on the steering wheel of the 4WD as he waited. "She said she'd be waiting in the lobby," he muttered. "I'm not parking."

Angelo's initial enthusiasm had started to fade a little in the face of Nathan's continued sulking. "...right. Guess I'll go in an' get her, then, if she doesn't come right out."

Nathan gave him a sideways look, but withheld comment. There was no fetching required, in the end, as Domino emerged from the front doors of the hotel roughly five seconds after Angelo's comment. Her bag thrown over her shoulder, she strode briskly towards the car, tossing her bag into the back seat and getting in, closing the door behind her before she said anything.

"I see someone's carrying around his own personal cloud of doom again." She tossed Nathan a quick, breezy, slightly brittle smile as he used the rearview mirror to glare at her. "Hi, Angelo," she added.

"Hey, Dom", Angelo said over his shoulder. "Yeah, he's been..." He trailed off at Nathan's look, but it spoke for itself.

"He'll cheer up as soon as he gets a certain distance above sea level. He usually does."

Nathan muttered something under his breath and stepped on the gas, pulling away from the hotel.

"We're goin' climbin'", Angelo informed Domino, still twisted round in his seat. "Don't know where."

"Well, if you really want to call it climbing..."

"There's nothing wrong with where we're going," Nathan said abruptly. "It's a perfectly nice-"

"Mildly strenuous hike," Domino supplied, in a manner that might have been termed irrepressible if not for the fact that she looked pale and tired and vaguely sad. "But I suppose it's not like we'd be taking Angelo if it was otherwise. No offense, Angelo, but you need to scale up to a real mountain."

"He didn't want to bring me anyway", Angelo said with a scowl. "Not 'til I told him I'd follow him if he didn't. An' that you were in New York."

"Oh, let me guess. He wanted to slip away by himself. Selfish ass." That was clearly directed at Nathan, not Angelo.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Nathan growled under his breath.

Domino just shook her head at him, leaning forward so that she could meet Angelo's eyes. "We're going to Mount Washington, Angelo," she said. "In New Hampshire. It's not much of a mountain, but it's got snow, and a good view... and a really good name." Her violet eyes were suspiciously bright and she leaned back abruptly, folding her arms across her chest.

...well, that explained a lot. One of the many details he'd picked up at some point was GW Bridge's full name. "Oh", he said quietly.

"We should stop at a liquor store before we get out of the city," Domino said, clearing her throat and wiping at her eyes. "I doubt the one in North Conway carries proper akvavit. You know, for the summit."

Nathan's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "We can do that if you want," he said gruffly, not looking at either of them. "It's not much of a summit."

Angelo believed in marking anniversaries however it seemed right, even if it looked weird to outsiders. The way that was really right usually did, after all. He nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that."