Nathan and Angelo, Thursday night

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Nathan does the nightly check-in. Angelo's got quite a bit to tell him. It leads to some time on the rooftops - and finally, some more information about the Preservers.


He'd got away as quickly as possible without being suspicious, leaving at the same time as the others and heading straight back to the boarding house. After that, it was just a matter of sitting with his prize and waiting for the nightly check-up to arrive.

The window, again, didn't creak, and Nathan, again, was just there, all at once. "Yes, I was at the rally today," he said without further ado. "That's a moderately strong telekinetic new friend you've got there."

"Rowan", Angelo confirmed, unsmiling. "You pissed her off pretty good blockin' her like that."

"I figured as much." Nathan gave him a long, assessing look. "You all right?"

"Fine", Angelo assured him. "Didn't get a scratch, at the rally... but their leader did. Got to meet him, after."

Nathan's jaw actually dropped. "Their leader?"

"Or the closest thing they've got." There might just have been the shadow of a triumphant grin. "His name's Devlin. He's an empath - projective for sure, maybe a reader, I couldn't tell."

Nathan actually jerked at that, and for a moment, looked almost overwhelmingly worried. "Okay then," he said after a pause. "Well. I've taught you that Askani empathic defense, for non-psis... you're prety good at it, really..."

Angelo nodded. "He tried somethin', but he wasn't really tryin'... I think he was just tryin' to make sure the new guy was really reeled in, but he thought I was already halfway there, so..."

Nathan's smile was slight, half-hearted. "Hurray for good acting skills, then." His grip on the staff of his psimitar was white-knuckled, but he went on calmly enough. "Get anything that we should know about?"

"Yep." The grin was a little closer to real, this time, as he turned to pick up the small device lying beside him on the bed. "Brought you out a present."

Nathan took the device as Angelo handed it over to him. "Ah-hah. Do I want to know how you got the opportunity to clone this man's hard drive?"

"I was in his apartment", Angelo said offhandedly. "Pretend to drink enough beer, nobody's surprised when you take maybe a little longer than you should in the bathroom."

"You're going to give me a heart attack before this is over. You really are." But Nathan's lips were twitching as he tucked the device into the pocket of his coat. "'Show' me the rest, so I can show it directly to Charles?"

Angelo nodded and thought very hard about the memory in question, projecting it as best he could.

Nathan examined the memories of Devlin's apartment and the relevant conversations thoroughly, then withdrew from Angelo's mind. "Thanks," he said, but paused, even as he half-turned towards the window. "I've... got to get this back, but I think, maybe, I'll be back in about an hour. Depending on what Charles and Ororo say. It's just, there's-" He paused again, awkwardly, realizing how much more difficulty it was going to be to tell Angelo about Scott now, four days later.

"A couple of things you want to tell me about?" Angelo suggested, far too calmly not to be suspicious.

Nathan hesitated, then raised an eyebrow. "Pietro told you about Scott."

"Yes, he did", Angelo agreed. "An' he told me why it wasn't you there that night, too."

Nathan grumbled something. "One is hardly comparable to the other. I gave myself a headache, oh, woe, the world will end." His expression turned more serious, even grave, and the worry was still lurking in his gray eyes. "Scott's running out of time. I'm going to talk to Ororo and Charles, and get back to him - I think maybe it's time to take a few more chances."

Angelo looked pointedly at the pocket where he'd stashed the drive-copier. "Here's hopin' you won't have to now."

The smile he got was a little disturbing. "Leave the window open. I'll be back, one way or the other."

--

Nathan didn't come to the window, the next time. Instead, his presence was there in Angelo's mind, all of a sudden, flashing him the image of the rooming house's roof. #Meet me up here. We're going back to Devlin's. Or at least near Devlin's.#

...we? It wasn't a complaint, though, and the next moment he was on his feet and heading for the roof.

Nathan was standing on the edge of the roof, and offered Angelo a faint smile as he emerged. "Come on," he said, and took Angelo's arm. "Remember the treetop jumping? This is just on a bigger scale."

"Not even that much further to fall, with our trees", he answered with a faintly nervous smile, but he walked to the edge of the roof without hesitation.

The first jump was dizzying, Matrix-esque in the way it took them up and across to the roof of a much taller building. Nathan moved with absolute assurance, far more comfortable doing this than he was flying in the exoskeleton.

Angelo wasn't quite as comfortable, at first, but he got used to it fast. And then it was just kind of exhilarating.

Almost too soon, they were on top of the roof of the building across the street from Devlin's. Nathan set them both down, letting go of Angelo's arm and walking over to the edge of the roof. "Oh, I can sense him from here," Nathan said with something close to distaste. "Empaths."

"Never much liked them myself", Angelo muttered. "An' this guy... he knows what he's doin', more than Manuel ever did." Or in different ways, at least.

"Him recruiting these kids... who knows how he's messed with them." Nathan stared hard at the windows of Devlin's apartment.

"They wouldn't tell me how they met him", Angelo said grimly. "I think they all thought the way they do before he got hold of them... but they probably didn't believe it this hard."

Nathan's eyes closed, and he didn't respond to Angelo's words for a long moment. "... interesting," he finally said. "He's... shielding, but not effectively against a telepath."

"Probably never learned", Angelo offered. "Empathy's different, isn't it... so if he learned to project that an' shield from other empaths..."

"Well. I'm going to take advantage." Nathan's eyes stayed closed, and he fell silent for a full five minutes. The tip of his psimitar started to glow slightly, a dull shimmering gold.

Angelo just watched, not wanting to interrupt Nathan's concentration during whatever it was he was doing.

Eventually, Nathan sighed, the tension in his posture easing as his eyes opened. "Okay. I got some more. It's going to take consulting with Charles to sort it all out, though - for a psi, he's not got a very disciplined mind, and I'm not sure what it all means."

"What'd you see?" Angelo wanted to know anyway.

"Faces. That bastard who's been making the bombs.... Jinasena," Nathan said after a moment, an oddly strained look on his face. "Kushini... Jinasena. Places, too. Maps?"

"He has maps memorised?" Angelo frowned. "Well, that's useful, I guess."

"Not memorized. Just... flashes." Nathan abruptly sat down, hard on the roof.

"...hey, you okay?" He hadn't forgotten what Pietro had told him, just put it aside for the more important issues.

"I just... hell, this is hard," Nathan said, and his breathing was indeed a little ragged. "I don't know how Charles can sort through impressions like he does and make any sense of it..."

"He's got more practice than you", Angelo pointed out, dropping to the roof beside him.

Nathan rubbed at his forehead. "Yeah, well, I despair of ever getting the hang of it sometimes." He took a deep breath, then let it out, gazing across at Devlin's apartment. "Ray's missing you."

"I miss her too", Angelo said quietly. "But I'll be back soon enough."

That reminded him of Amanda's email; he'd had a chance to glance at it before leaving, but not to answer. "Someone else is missing you, too." Nathan smiled a bit crookedly at the look he got. "Three guesses, and the first don't count."