xp_logs | Epiphany Frosts: Aftermath (Reply)

The ~~dust~~ snow clears, and the X-Men pick themselves - and each other - up and go home. Angelo gets the movie-moment epilogue with Samie - and then sleeps nearly all the way home. He's had a very long day.

To say that it was a scene of controlled chaos was a half-truth, at best; there was plenty of chaos, and much less in the way of control. The hasty evacuation of all the hostages had left questions in the minds of the Russian authorities as to precisely who had been a hostage and who had been a terrorist, and hence the released hostages, still groggy from the gas, were being interviewed to establish their identities before being allowed out of the area.

Most of that part of the clean-up was being conducted in one of the larger stores on the street. There were ambulances, removing the dead and the injured, and the lights of more emergency vehicles farther down in the street, in the direction Saidullayev had gone.

Nathan, shivering, pulled the blanket more tightly around himself and sipped at his coffee. He ought to be inside - Jean would probably have his head - but he was watching for Angelo.

He didn't have to wait too long. The first thing Angelo did once he emerged from the hotel was look around for Nathan, and make a beeline that way.

Nathan looked up, the familiar mental imprint standing out among the crowd, despite the charged atmosphere and his own tiredness. He told himself, very sternly, that springing to his feet and hugging Angelo was probably not the way to go in public. However much he wanted to do it.

"You," he said, his voice hoarse, and stopped to cough before he went on, "are never allowed to come to Russia again."

Angelo really wouldn't have minded all that much, at this point. He stopped at a little distance, though, grinning ruefully. "Shame. I kind of liked Russia before the drama started. Can we settle for 'not alone'?"

"Possibly." Nathan gave him a once-over, making sure there were no bullet holes or anything immediately visible. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Angelo reassured him quickly. "Didn't exactly get much sleep, but apart from that..."

"Well, you can fix that on the way back." Nathan coughed again, grimacing. Moskva River water did not taste good. "I saw Samie inside. Vouched for her with the police, found her a place to wait..."

"Good," was the more than slightly relieved answer. "She's okay? I mean, I know she was when I last saw her, but..." He glanced around pointedly at the not so controlled chaos.

"She's fine. She's tough." Damn, it was cold out here. "You kept her safe," Nathan went on, somehow realizing that it was important that Angelo remember that.

"Did the best I could," Angelo said quietly. "She wouldn't even have been there if I hadn't brought her."

"Hey..." Nathan set his coffee down on the windowsill he'd been leaning against and got up, letting the blanket slide off his shoulders. He'd taken off the sopping wet uniform jacket, and it was a little cold to be out here in a t-shirt, but oh, well. And to hell with young male pride, come to think of it. He hugged Angelo firmly. "Not your fault. Don't make me throw you in the river. It's very cold."

Angelo had been awake for something like 24 hours, almost all of it under great stress. Screw young male pride, he was tired, and leaning unashamedly. Also, he'd just noticed something. "...Nathan? What's with the blanket, an' why's your shirt wet?"

Nathan gave a laugh that was half-cough. "Someone threw a bridge at me."

"...a bridge. That knocked you in the river?"

"Uh-huh. Only me, huh?"

"If I'm not allowed to come to Russia anymore, you're not allowed anywhere near bridges."

Nathan shook his head and left one arm around Angelo's shoulders as he bent to pick up the coffee. "Come on. Inside is better than outside - I was just waiting for you."

Angelo blinked up at him. "You shouldn't've done that. Somebody would've told me where you were." This carried the implicit note that Nathan was the one he'd have been looking for first.

"Yeah, well. I needed to see you with my own eyes, to make sure you were all right," Nathan said, steering him around a knot of police officers conferring with each other. His tone was almost conversational, as if he'd just remarked on what a cold night it was.

"Well, you would have. Just not in the middle of the freezin' cold in Moscow."

"I'm not the most patient person in the world. And I had to do a lot of sitting around waiting today," Nathan said, almost under his breath. He glanced down at Angelo, his expression wry. "The shoe does indeed suck when it's on the other foot."

That got him an unashamedly wicked grin. "Ha. Finally learnin' what it's like, are you?"

"You don't need to look like you enjoy the idea quite so much," was the deadpan reply.

"An' don't I deserve it, after Rio?"

"... maybe."

Angelo just grinned at him, still leaning slightly. It was oddly comforting, after the last day.

---

Nathan might have been the first person on Angelo's list to find, after he got safely out of the hotel, but second place was just as undisputed. Pointed in the right direction, he headed straight for the triage area to look for Samie.

Samie had stayed right where Nathan had put her, quite contentedly. It might be loud, but it was safe, and he'd left her with some food and told her Angelo would be along promptly. She was tired, but she really had no intention of trying to make her way back to her own hotel until she saw that he was all right.

He rounded a corner, scanning every face until he saw her. Then he offered a relieved smile, already hurrying over - being told she was fine, even knowing she had been when he sent her out, wasn't quite the same as seeing it now.

"Hi," she said, getting up and coming over to hug him firmly. "You are all right? Nathan said you were."

"Not a scratch on me," he said, hugging her back unhesitatingly. "Tired, but I figure everybody is."

She laughed a bit wearily. "It's been a long day." Leaning back she looked up at him, speculatively - and then poked him in the ribs, hard.

He yelped, jerking back, and looked at her reproachfully. "What was that for?"

"That was for hustling me outside and then running back in," she said, very sternly. "And this-" She leaned up and kissed him, very soundly. "-is for saving my life. Thank you."

He was about to object to the first part, but she put a stop to that fairly decisively, and he just grinned down at her at the second. "It's kind of what we do. When we can. Both parts."

"Oh, so I wound up keeping company with a hero, did I?" She kissed him again. "Mmm. At least I have good taste."

He laughed. "Don't know if I'd go that far. Just don't believe in lettin' the side down. But if that's what you want to think..."

"And modest, too. Maybe we are in a movie." She sighed, though she was still smiling, and hugged him again, hard. "I'm glad we're almost at the credits, though."

"Pretty close to them, yeah. They might even already've rolled."

"Angelo," came Nathan's voice from behind them. Beside him was a tall, dark-haired woman Angelo didn't know, who smiled kindly at him and Samie. "This is Marinka," said Nathan, who had found a spare jacket somewhere. He still looked damp around the edges and entirely too cold, however. "Old friend of mine." He smiled a bit regretfully at Samie. "We're going to have to leave," he said, "Angelo and I, along with our friends. Probably before we can make sure we see you safely home. So I asked Marinka if she'd consider looking after you and making some arrangements."

"I've known Nathan for a long time," the woman said reassuringly, her English barely accented. "I kept a house here, for him and GW and the others, for when they needed it."

Angelo blinked at her, but if Nathan said she was someone to be trusted, that was that. "What kind of arrangements?" he asked anyway. Samie had a hotel room of her own and presumably a ticket home already, after all.

"... I didn't even think," Samie said a bit helplessly. "My key, for my hotel? It's in there." She gestured across the street. "I don't think they'll be letting us in there to get our things very quickly, and I was supposed to be flying out... this afternoon?" She looked vaguely disoriented. "What time is it?"

"I'll get her back to her hotel," Marinka went on soothingly, "make sure that she's allowed back into her room, and that she gets something to eat before getting her to the airport."

Angelo nodded, tired but relieved and grateful. "Thanks, then. Oh - there's some stuff in there I got for people." He looked ruefully up in the direction of his room, suddenly glad he hadn't brought anything that actually mattered.

#We might be able to get your stuff back before we go,# Nathan sent. #I just want Samie well clear of all of this. Remember where she grew up - between that and the fact that she wasn't a registered guest, there might be questions she doesn't want to answer.#

#Good point#, Angelo sent back tensely. #Even if I just told them she was with me, it could get awkward.#

#Marinka will look after her,# Nathan sent back reassuringly. "Thanks, Marinka," he said, with a smile for the woman. "I appreciate this."

She snorted softly at him. "Since when have I not helped with your various wayward children?" She softed it with a grin for Samie and Angelo. "I'll let you two say your goodbyes - Nathan and I will be right over here." She all but dragged Nathan off several paces, to give Angelo and Samie some space.

That sounded like an intriguing and probably Domino-related story, Angelo noted absently for later questioning as he watched them go, before turning back to Samie. "So. Looks like we'll be goin' soon, then."

"Yes." She put her hands on her hips, grinning up at him. "Well, I can't say there weren't parts that were very nice. But I think the next time we run into each other in a strange city, we go to my place." Before he could respond, her expression had softened and she kissed him again. "I will email you, when I'm home. You will do the same, yes?"

Angelo chuckled and wrapped his arms round her in a quick hug. "Course I will. But I promise you, we'll get there safe."

"We just got out of a hotel where insane people were threatening to kill everyone. How hard could going home be?" Samie hung onto him, the sudden giggling half-hysterical. "Oh... I didn't just say that. Really! Knock on wood!"

"Say anythin' like that again an' I'm gonna make them drop you off in the jet an' Marinka can send you your stuff," he threatened, half-seriously, holding her up easily.

"You're trouble," Samie vowed, between giggles. "You really are. If I ever told my father about this, he would say 'Samie, you fool! This is exactly the kind of boy I keep the AK-47 for!'"

Angelo started to laugh himself, at that, and tried not to let it sound hysterical. "Hey, it's not my fault! Anyway, you could have figured that out in Kashmir!"

"I know! But I like trouble," Samie said, "and you, you would get me into such, such trouble if we didn't live an ocean apart." She took his face between her hands and kissed him soundly, one last time. When she drew back, she was still grinning, although her eyes were suspiciously bright. "Be good. Don't do anything Nathan would do."

He freed a hand to stroke her hair, smiling ruefully. "Samie, I do everythin' Nathan would do. As much of it as I can without his powers, anyway."

"My father threatens my boyfriends with AK-47s. Yours objects to windmills." She gave him a mock-woeful look. "I think we're both screwed."

That got him laughing again, as he realized that was the first time anyone had called Nathan his father out loud. He certainly wasn't objecting, though. "I think we just might be. But hey, it'll be fun while it lasts."

--

Marie sighed. Once again an X-Men mission where the flight back felt more like a funeral than anything else. Except this time, she wasn't one of the somber ones sitting in the back, keeping to herself and lost in thought. "You still awake, Skin?" she asked quietly as she took the seat next to her friend.

They hadn't been on the flight for very long, and the exhaustion hadn't quite caught up with him enough to send him to sleep yet. He tipped his head sideways towards her, eyes open. "Just about. Hey, Marie."

She smiled at him, though there was more than a little sadness in it. "How are you holding up?"

"Tired as all hell," was the honest answer. "But... I managed to keep Samie safe, an' all of ours got out okay. I'll live."

"Tired is to be expected," Marie said. "But safe is the important part. It wasn't all as smooth as it coulda been," she said, glancing at the back of Garrison's head out of the corner of her eye, "but Saidullayev won't be hurtin' anyone else for a good long while, so overall, this one goes in the success pile." She paused, cocking her head. "You did really well, y' know? Kept your cool in a tough situation."

Angelo's eyes flicked towards Garrison, curiously, when hers did, but he didn't ask what had happened yet. "I had somebody else to look after," he said simply. "She wouldn't've been there if it weren't for me, so I had to see she got out okay. If she hadn't been there... well, I'd've been in the conference room with the others, for one thing."

"Puttin' others before yourself," Marie said with another smile. "That's the Ange Ah know. It's always surprising how much you can do when you realize you hafta."

"Yeah," he said with a rueful grin. "Like walkin' a ledge several stories above the ground. Or Samie hittin' one of the bastards with a fire extinguisher."

"A fire extinguisher? Now that's some creative thinking." Leaning back in her seat, Marie crossed her legs. "So now that you've seen what it's like, still glad you decided to join the X-Men?"

"Em," he said seriously, "it's not even a choice I need t'think about."

"Yeah," Marie said, "you'll fit in just fine. Just be careful not to burn out to quick, ok?"

That got her another sideways look. "I'll do my best."

"It's just easy to throw yourself into things and lose track of the rest of your life," she explained. "And you, as we kid, are wearing so many hats right now." She ignored the voice in her head taunting her by calling her a hypocrite.

"Comes with the role model," he said wryly. "But I think I'm managin' so far." He leaned back on his seat, eyes closing, though he was still awake.

"Managin' is good," she replied. "Just don't be afraid to reach out if you need."

"I think most of the team an' half the kids will be watchin' out to make sure I do," was the still-wry answer.

"That's what makes us a team. Watching out for each other," Marie said. "And have you told your mom about your little following? Ah bet she'd be glad to know the girls won't let you waste away."

Angelo laughed tiredly, eyes still shut. "Hell, I think she encourages them behind my back."

"Can ya blame her?" Marie teased. "She's a good mom, likes to know that you're being taken care of."

"She really is. Always was, even back in LA." "You've come a long way since then, huh?" Marie asked.

"Guess I have, yeah. Hell of a long way." He was worried, dimly being close to sleep, about losing some of what he'd been then. But only some of it.

"Seems to happen to all of us at the mansion," Marie said, her voice barely above a whisper as she watched him on the edge of drifting to sleep. "Ah wonder if any of us are the people we thought we'd be."

"Prob'ly not," was the last quiet response, as sleep finally caught up with him.

--

It was too cold in the Blackbird. Why didn't someone crank up the heat a little? Nathan thought crankily, folding his arms across his chest and slouching a little further on the bench. Beside him, Angelo slumbered on, oblivious to it all, and Nathan gave him a brief, fond look. He ought to sleep the whole way back...

Marie continued pacing the aisle of the plane, as she had been for a good portion of the flight, glancing at her teammates in their various states of conciousness. Pausing by Nate, she smiled at him. "Glad he's still sleeping. He looked exhausted."

Nathan nodded. "That long a stress period," he said, his voice gravelly, "and then a fight... he's right out. Sleeping fairly peacefully, too."

"Good," she said, her voice soft. "He has enough nightmares as is. Doesn't need any added to them."

"I know." The blanket covering Angelo twitched upwards slightly, seemingly of its own accord. "It's freezing in here. I wish Scott would crank up the heat a little."

Marie looked at him a little strangely. "It isn't any colder than usual Nate. I mean, it's no sauna in here, but it isn't an icebox either." She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him. "You feeling allright?"

Nathan shrugged, a bit stiffly. "Fine. Just cold. I wound up in the river when we went after Saidullayev."

"Not exactly the time for a swim," Marie said wryly. "Do Ah wanna know the details? Or is this time when Ah just continue my walk down the aisle, smiling and nodding?"

Another shrug. "He threw a bridge at me."

Marie just shook her head. "You know, Ah'm really thinkin' Ah should thank Scott for my assignment on this mission."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. It was just a bridge, and I just went for a little swim," he said gruffly, then coughed. "... I can still taste the river. That's kind of disgusting."

Marie actually smiled at that. "That's really disgusting. Ah'll have to make you another cobbler to get the taste out."

"Cobbler, hell. I'd settle for mouthwash at the moment." Nathan sighed and leaned back against the unyielding metal behind him. His eyes shifted back to Angelo. "I'm so never letting him go to another conference alone."

"Yes," Marie said firmly, "you will."

Nathan tilted his head, eyeing her. "Yes, I will," he said, his lips twitching suspiciously. "But I'll also huff and puff and stew and fret and make him call four times a day the first couple of trips."

"And he wouldn't have it any other way," she said, her gaze drifting over to the sleeping boy. "And Ah'm not gonna stop you from keeping a close eye on him."

"That's good. Because then you and I would have to have words," Nathan said wryly. His eyes moved away from Angelo and down the plane, towards someone else. #How's Garrison?# he sent, switching to telepathy.

Marie's face probably provided a better answer than any words. #As well as can be expected# she thought in Nate's direction, making sure her gaze didn't drift anywhere near the Canadian. #He hasn't exactly had a good mission experience yet.#

#He did everything he could. Sometimes we can't save them all.# He was tired enough that images from Youra, the first time they'd been at Youra, underlaid the projected thought almost involuntarily. #The only thing that makes it any better is to keep going.#

Marie processed the thought, the images drifting through her mind. She'd been in Canada when the X-Men had gone to Youra the first time - but she'd read the files and seen the pictures. #We all fail sometimes.# Her own thought had an image attached, though of only a single boy, looking small and crumpled. #And somehow, we all find the strength to keep going.#

#From each other, most of the time...# Nathan glanced down as Angelo shifted in his sleep. He didn't show any signs of waking up, however, and Nathan relaxed again.

#Most of the time,# Marie agreed. #Though most folk don't give themselves the credit they should about their own inner strength.#

#Well, if we were all unflappably sure of our own strengths and abilities... we'd be Logan, wouldn't we?# Nathan made a token attempt at ducking.

Marie still smacked him, though very lightly. #Sometimes I wish I was that sure of myself though.#

#You're still young. You'll figure it out.#

--

The plane ride home was a considerably more relaxed trip than the leg out had been, though there was still a lingering feeling of stress in the air that wouldn't dissipate until everyone was back on the ground safely. Ororo didn't feel nearly as drained as everyone else looked, which was good in the event that any sudden turbulence decided to trouble the Blackbird on the return trip to the mansion. Even though the skies were clear she still sat in the co-pilot's seat, turned so that she could keep an eye on the rest of the team as they dozed or otherwise tried to recover from their encounter with the Chechen madman not hours before.

One team member in particular caught her eye - Nathan had not left Angelo's side since they had all boarded the jet, even after the younger man had laid down and promptly fallen into a deep sleep. She knew that Nathan was likely in worse shape than Angelo after Saidulleyev threw a bridge at him and tried to drown him in the icy river, but she also knew that arguing with the stubborn telepath would be like banging her head against the wall. And as much as she worried, she knew a futile effort when she saw one.

"I will contact Amelia when we get a bit closer to home," she murmured, glancing over at Scott momentarily before looking back at Nathan and Angelo. "I know we are all in one piece, but a few people took more than their share of punishment. Nathan in particular - I am surprised he is still upright, to be honest."

Scott gave a soft laugh. "'Stop fussing, Munroe, it was only a bridge'," he said in a surprisingly-good imitation of Nathan's usual gruff tone. "'And if you don't stop looking at my ribs wondering how many are intact, I'm going to throw you out of the plane.'"

Ororo made a face - men were so dumb sometimes. "He is just lucky Jean cleared him, or I would have no problem strapping him to a bodyboard against any protests." Still, there was something almost touching about the way he hovered over the younger man, watching him carefully as if he would be able to catch and soothe any signs of unease or worry in Angelo's expression. And who knows? Perhaps he could...

Scott glanced back over his shoulder, smiled a bit, then turned his attention back to his flying. "I'll have to remember to ask him how it feels to have the shoe on the other foot - and then duck."

"He may not even notice, not until we are back and he is sure Angelo is fine. With the way those two watch over each other it is amazing they let one another go on missions at all. They should just sit in a locked room, staring at one another and constantly checking to see if they are all right." Despite her words, Ororo was smiling. It was a difficult thing to become acclimated to, knowing at any moment your loved ones could be in grave peril.

Scott tilted his head. "... no, I can't see it. The sitting around, I mean. And not just for Nate." He smiled a bit faintly. "You and I need to talk when we get back, by the way. About Angelo and the color of his leathers." She'd know what he meant. And agree, he suspected. "We need to steer Garrison in Charles's direction, too," he said more quietly.

"Mm, I believe some tea would do him good," she agreed. "They all did so well, though, Scott... this was not even close to an easy assignment." The pride was evident in her voice. "Each one of them, even when things were sprung upon them or circumstances changed. I know they appreciate what they have done, but I hope they truly realize what they have accomplished."

"I hope so, too, but I'm not going to assume anything. We're just going to have to repeat ourselves, frequently, to make sure that it sinks in." Scott shook his head slowly, easing the Blackbird down a few hundred feet in altitude. "I was kvetching sort of indirectly the other day about all the interpersonal snapping and snarling, and all the restrictions that puts on us because certain people can't do certain things or work with particular people... but you know, it doesn't really matter in the end? Because when the call comes, they do what's necessary." Scott was silent for a moment. "Fortune favors the bold," he quoted, his voice almost inaudible.

"And it is a good thing, too," Ororo replied, equally quiet, "otherwise the bold might not be so lucky when a bridge comes flying their way."

Scott looked sideways at her, then took a deep, slightly shaky breath. "Tell me that the team doesn't actually need to hear semi-hysterical laughter coming from the cockpit."

"The team needs to get home safely... being convinced that their team leaders still have both their sanity intact would be an added bonus." Glancing back at the people arrayed on the seats and benches, Ororo had to smile. "But I think, if it came down to it, they could take care of each other quite well."