xp_logs | Kaiten: Coming Home

Angelo makes his way to his mother's after the FBI finishes with him. Someone comes looking for him.

Juanita hadn't been surprised, when Angelo had showed up at her house after the FBI let him go, debriefing done. Pleased, but not surprised. It had been a long week, not knowing much of where he was, and it was good to know now he was safe in the room she kept for him. And he understood that, so no... she wasn't surprised.

It wasn't only his coming to her that she was pleased by, of course. She might not know more than a little of what he'd been doing - he tried to protect her from some things, even now - but that was enough. Things had changed so much since Los Angeles, and all for the better. Changed so much... but in some ways, there'd been no change at all.

A knock came at the door, abruptly, just as she was heading back to bed herself. It was nearly 4am, but then, Angelo had only appeared at the door a short time ago himself.

She blinked, confused as to who would be visiting... but not for very long. There were only a few likely suspects, after all, and she was smiling when she went to open the door again.

Nathan's arm was in a sling, the cuts and bruises on his face only more obvious now that the blood had been cleaned away, and he looked perilously close to toppling like a felled tree right there in the doorway. He managed a smile in return for Juanita, however, even as his eyes strayed past her to the door of Angelo's room. "He's here, then."

"He arrived half an hour ago", she confirmed, giving him a narrow look. "Not hurt, but otherwise not looking much better than you."

The smile turned self-deprecating. "It's been a long day. I wasn't in New York with him, I was elsewhere." He didn't offer any other details. "And you have no idea how nuts that drove me. I just needed to make sure he was okay, and I've been pushing so hard today that doing it from Westchester wasn't an option." Juanita was giving him That Look. "I left a note for Moira?" he offered, meekly.

"And is Moira in New York, at the moment?" she demanded. "Or in America at all?" She knew that the other woman went back and forth, but not where she currently was.

"She's at the mansion. Spent most of the night running tests on... well." Nathan was leaning rather heavily against the doorframe at this point. "I din't want to wake her. Just left her a note... I figured I could be here and back before even Rachel woke up..."

Juanita stared at him. "Nathan Dayspring, if you think I'm going to let you drive back to the mansion and have to explain to my son that you went off the road, someone must have hit you in the head."

Nathan blinked. Then blinked again. Then: "No, still Latina and not my wife. But that's creepy, you sounded just like her for a second there..."

"I don't think my accent has ever been anything like hers", Juanita said dryly. "Give me your car keys."

She was serious. Nathan gave a sigh that was only slightly aggrieved and used his good hand to pass them over. "I sense a flaw in my plan."

Juanita took them and pocketed them, with a smile that wasn't in the least triumphant, honestly. "Just a slight one. Now come in, I'll make up the couch for you." She was tempted to suggest an ambulance instead, but he'd obviously already had treatment.

"You are a terribly managing woman, you know."

---

He wasn't exactly awake, when he wandered out of his room in the... was it still morning? But Angelo snapped to alert pretty well when, halfway to the kitchen, he realized exactly who was sleeping on the couch.

Nathan grumbled and rubbed at his eyes with his good hand. "What?" he demanded crankily. "You didn't call, boy. Are you that surprised I came to check on you?"

Juanita eyed them both over the kitchen counter, in the middle of breakfast preparations. "You expected him to call when he could barely stand up?"

"If I wasn't allowed to drag myself out here to check on him when I could hardly stand up, then he - wait," Nathan said a bit groggily, pushing himself upright and wincing as he shifted his arm in the sling. "Logic went away. Sorry. Is there coffee?"

"There will be in a moment", she told him, softening. "And yes, logic did go away." Angelo was looking between them as if he wasn't sure it had come back yet.

Nathan rubbed at his eyes again, then raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"When did you get here?" Okay, maybe he still wasn't quite awake.

Nathan looked at Angelo's mother. "What was it, Juanita, about four?"

"Something like that", she confirmed. "About half an hour after Angelo did. And ready to drive away again, if I hadn't confiscated your keys." The last was just a little pointed.

"Don't listen to your mother. I was perfectly fine," Nathan said - and groaned as he hauled himself off the couch. "You're okay?" he asked before Angelo could react.

"Just fine", Angelo told him, clearly deciding to put aside any and all confusing issues now. "Now I've slept an' all."

"So is Scott," Nathan said. Without further ado.

That got a sigh of relief and a relaxing of tension Angelo hadn't even realized was still there. "Good. An' you?" He glanced over the sling, the visible cuts.

"Reasonably intact. The plane, however, is not."

"What happened to it?"

Nathan coughed, eyeing Juanita. "Umm.... landing in Mexico left a little to be desired."

Juanita eyed him right back, eyebrows raised. Angelo blinked. "You crashed the plane?"

"Bite your tongue," Nathan grumbled, heading over to the kitchen table. He could smell the coffee. "I did no such thing." #I believe the technical term is 'shot down.'#

Juanita set a cup down in front of him, giving him a frankly disbelieving look but saying nothing. Angelo, on the other hand... #You got shot down?#

#Yes. Don't ask me how we got the plane back to Westchester. My brain hurts at the thought.# Coffee. Coffee now.

#I don't think I want to know.# He wandered over to the table to claim a cup of his own, getting a much less suspicious look and a smile from his mother.

"So are you done?" Nathan asked, then shook his head a bit quizzically. "Sorry. Obviously you're not done." There would be trials, the need for testimony... "Are you done for now?"

"Yeah", he said with a nod. "Kept me in for debriefin' most of the night, but that's all over with now."

Nathan let the air in his lungs out on a sigh. "Good," was all he said. "This is wonderful coffee, Juanita."

That earned him a smile, too. "I know. Thank you."