xp_logs | Angelo, Domino and Nathan

In New Hampshire, Angelo gets taken shopping by Domino for climbing gear. Later, after a crash course in the necessary skills, he and Nathan finally talk a little.

"How do those boots feel?" Domino asked from where she was looking at ice axes. "I know they're plastic, but trust me, they'll work much better than the leather ones."

Angelo tramped up and down experimentally for a few paces, testing them out. "Not too bad. An' they'll keep the snow out better, right?"

"They'll keep your feet warmer and drier," Domino said, "and they fit the crampons better. Easier to front-point in them, too." At Angelo's questioning look, she laughed a bit wearily. "Sorry. Jargon."

"Okay, the crampons are the... spikes", he said with a hesitant smile. "But what's front-point?"

"A certain type of crampons give you more traction, especially on ice. Front-pointing is how you use them. Nate and I'll take you out this afternoon and show you all the basics, like he said this morning..." Domino lifted out one of the ice axes, giving it a thoughtful look. "I think this'll do." She picked up its twin.

Angelo peered at the rack of axes, trying to see any significant difference between them without asking.

"He may be acting like a grouch," Domino said, almost casually, "but he's glad to have you along, you know."

"...well, I guess he didn't lock me in my suite an' ban me from comin' that way", Angelo allowed. "An' he didn't make me follow him all the way."

"Yeah, he could have been a lot more difficult than he was." Domino set the ice axes down beside the box for Angelo's boots. "I suppose it's not such a bad thing to have spares of all of this on this side of the Atlantic," she said, picking up one of the boots she'd picked out for herself.

Angelo nodded. "Easier than carryin' it all back an' forth just in case you might want t'climb when you're in America."

"I think we've got everything," Domino said, looking down at the pile of gear. "Nate's got the rest of the hardware... not that we'll need it for much of the day. There's not a lot of flat-out climbing."

"So what's this mountain like?" It was almost a casual question.

"About a quarter the height of Everest," Domino said a bit wryly. "But it also holds the record for the highest wind gust ever measured on the surface of the earth, believe it or not..."

"...an' this is the place you were callin' a mildly strenuous hike?"

"Nate'll turn us back if the weather's lousy." Domino bent and picked up her boots and the ice axes. "He's not going to take chances when you haven't done this before."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I know he wouldn't. Okay, then."

"It'll be fun?"

He looked up at her, and smiled. "Course it will."

--

Angelo's crash-course in winter hiking and climbing techniques had gone smashing well, Nathan supposed; he'd certainly picked up all the necessary techniques quickly enough, and on another week, Nathan would have been quite tickled by the sight of Angelo and Domino glissading down a snowfield, giggling.

He was tired, though, and feeling more than a little detached from everything. Angelo had the news on in the background, but none of the stories were registering. He was having some trouble even focusing on the trail map in front of him.

Angelo was sitting on the bed, only half-watching the TV. The rest of his attention was on Nathan. "You think maybe you should leave the map for the mornin'?" he suggested eventually, carefully. "Try an' get some sleep?"

"... right." It didn't even occur to him to resist. He'd tried that already, and here Angelo was. Many things were losing battles this week. Nathan folded the map carefully. "It's not like I don't know what trails we're taking."

He pushed himself up out of the chair and went over to lie down on the other bed, still in his clothes. Angelo seemed unwilling to point that out - or perhaps shocked that he'd given in that easily. Nathan wasn't sure, and he had the same tight shields around his mind that he'd had ever since he and Jean had taken down the last of their batch of Spartans on Youra. That wasn't going to change.

"They demolished the training barracks," he said after a couple of minutes of silence. "Most of the buildings, actually."

It was part shock, part taking his victories where he was sure he'd get them, without pushing too far. He blinked for a moment at the words, then understood. "After... the first time? Or the second?"

"The first. I suppose there wasn't much left of that building, anyway." Nathan's voice was dispassionate. "Give them a few more years and I imagine there'll be nothing left besides the cultural center on the other end of the island. Maybe that's for the best." Wipe it all away, as if it never happened. Well, he'd at least marked the spot, right?

"Yeah", Angelo said quietly. "It's not like it'll be forgotten, whatever happens. An' maybe it's better not to have it... concrete."

Nathan sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't know." His voice was almost inaudible. "People forget very easily. Look at the Greek government, thinking that programming their own Spartans was such a great idea..."

"They learned better", was all the reply Angelo could offer. "An' nobody died this time. Maybe after that, there won't be a third time."

"Oh, I'd think that there's more likely to be a third time because no one died. There was no cost to this, not the sort of cost that made McKenna crack down so hard on Mistra and all the other programs like it. It was just an experiment that got out of control." Nathan gave another sigh that was half-a-laugh, if not one containing any kind of amusement. "Or maybe I'm just a pessimist."

"But twice, they've tried it, an' twice it's gone wrong", Angelo pointed out. "One time with cost, one time with just embarrassment, but that's two governments that won't be doin' it anymore, an' others that might look at one or the other an' think twice."

Nathan didn't answer that for another long minute or two. "Their minds," he said finally. "The way they changed, when the devices went off... these very patterned psi-imprints, breaking..." And he couldn't go on with that train of thought, not even now.

"But they're okay, right?" Angelo said softly. It's not the same.

"They're okay." It was more of an echo than an answer, and Nathan's voice sounded a little hollow and unsteady, suddenly. "Happy endings. Imagine that." He shifted over onto his side, closing his eyes.

"There are happy endin's sometimes." It had the sound of a reminder, as much as anything. "Success stories, too."

Nathan actually managed a weak smile. "Yeah, I know, Mr. Textbook Case. Go to sleep - we're heading out before dawn tomorrow."