xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan, Sunday afternoon

Nathan discovers where his wayward daughter's got to, then gets kidnapped himself - but it's all in a good cause.

Nathan was frowning as he moved down the hall, following the unmistakable bubbling of Rachel's thoughts. Really, this had all the trademarks of her classic Houdini act - except for the fact that she didn't usually take her Bag Of Stuff along with her when she did that. "She's got an accomplice," he muttered. "That's the ticket."

Angelo emerged from a room several doors down the hall, grinning, then he turned to see Nathan and the grin only widened. "Hey."

Nathan's eyes narrowed. "It was you, wasn't it? You snuck in while I was on the phone in the office and connived with her Evilness. Where did you stash her?"

"In there", Angelo said with a nod to the room. "She's safe, she's got babysitters, they'll have a great day. An' we're goin' out."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, are we?" he asked as Angelo came down the hall and past him, clearly intent on a destination. He eyed the room for a moment, reaching out to touch Rachel's thoughts. He got a mental giggle-and-hug in response, which made him shrug with his good shoulder and turn to follow. She was clearly content.

"Yep", came the breezy response, as Angelo headed straight for the garage. "An' no, I'm not tellin' you where."

"I need to stop sending you on vacations. You come back all uppity."

"You were in the office", Angelo said calmly and not at all accusingly. "On a Sunday." Not just any Sunday, either, but he wasn't bringing that up yet. And he hadn't missed how tired Nathan looked - even more than before Angelo had left for Madagascar, somehow.

"I wasn't working," Nathan said with a sigh as they headed down to the garage. "Talking to the Morrow family lawyer out in San Francisco..."

Angelo turned to look at him at that, without breaking step. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. He got an offer on the house, finally." Saul's house had been on the market ever since... well, ever since the will had been read. Oddly, there'd been no takers until now. "I need to fly out there this week, take a look at the place and decide what to do about the contents."

Angelo nodded. "You want me to go with you, or stay here an' mind the office?"

"Office-minding, if you please. Several of your files need some attention," Nathan said, not quite dryly. He had after all been the one to send Angelo away on vacation, and he certainly didn't regret it.

That got an eyeroll. "I could've taken them with me to Madagascar, you know." Not that he meant a word of it.

"No, you couldn't have. So, which car?" Nathan asked as they walked into the garage.

"That one", Angelo said after a cursory glance around, pointing to one of the nicer cars in the pool. Which was saying quite a lot.

"You have a little car envy going on, don't you?" Nathan said - making a mental note. Angelo's 21st birthday was after all coming up fairly soon.

"It's a good car", Angelo said shamelessly. "An' it's there for anybody to drive. Shame to just let it sit there."

Nathan gave a muffled laugh and got in - on the passenger's side. "So where are we headed?" he asked as Angelo got in and started the car. A flicker of telekinesis nudged the button on the garage door opener.

"You'll see when we get there."

"Brat." Nathan leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes as they drove out into the sunlight. His shoulder was aching today, and he'd shifted back to the mild painkillers at this point, so they were of course wearing off.

"As always", was the cheerful answer, though Angelo was watching him sidelong, as well as he could while still watching the road.

"So," Nathan said after a few minutes, "see the pose about Haller? Last night was odd."

"Yeah, I did", he said with a frown. "I didn't know even a psi could make illusions that solid."

"Not all that different from what I did with the Askani," Nathan pointed out idly. "Broad-spectrum psis and funny subconscious tricks seem to go hand in hand." The semi-flippant tone was very much put-upon; he was worried about Jim, but aware of just how helpless he was at the moment. Angelo dragging him out wasn't such a bad thing.

Angelo was aware of this. It was exactly why he'd done it. "Moira's on it, though. An' the Professor. They'll get him fixed up."

"I have full faith in our local miracle-workers, yes."

***********

Angelo had continued refusing to explain where they were going when Nathan asked, until eventually he pulled the car up outside a jeweller's shop in the city. "Just a quick stop", he said with a grin as he got out. "This isn't where we're really goin'."

Nathan shrugged amiably and got out as well, coming in. "Buying something for someone?" he asked wryly, raising an eyebrow.

"Collectin' somethin'", Angelo told him, turning his attention to the assistant and giving his name. "Brought it in for some work before I went away."

Nathan eyed him, but waited until the assistant came back with a box and a bright smile. "Dare I ask?"

"No reason why not", Angelo returned brightly, digging out his wallet to pay and pushing the box towards Nathan. "Go ahead an' look."

Nathan raised an eyebrow and opened the box. Both eyebrows went up, as he did. It was the coin he'd given Angelo while he'd been undercover - now attached to a chain, with a slight sheen that suggested it had been coated in something to preserve it. "Huh," he said, lifting it out.

That got him another sideways glance, and Angelo couldn't hide a grin. "I wanted to keep it, but it was kind of delicate."

"Hey, you're talking about something that's survived for twenty-five hundred years," Nathan said, handing the coin on its chain over to Angelo. "We old things are tougher than we look."

"Maybe. But I didn't want to break it. An' anyway, I couldn't get the chain put on the way it was." He took the empty box off the counter and pocketed it, then put the chain round his neck.

Nathan couldn't help but feel a little touched by all of this. "It'll be an interesting conversation piece," he said, sticking to the dry tone.

"I thought so", Angelo said, grin still present, then glanced at the door. "Time to get on to the next place, then."

***********

"The irony is killing me," Nathan said dryly as they wandered slowly through the exhibit. "We stop at the jeweller's to pick up your Spartan coin, and then go look at Persian art. I sense a theme."

"Not really", Angelo said lightly. "I mean, yeah, but it's coincidence. Didn't even plan this 'til I got back an' saw Moira was busy with Haller."

"I think I like it better when lousy things are happening to me on my birthday," Nathan muttered, but examined an elaborate silver dish with all evidence of keen interest.

"No, you don't. Lousy things not happenin' to anybody, now..."

"This is what happens when your birthday is April Fool's Day. Lousy karma," Nathan said, straightening and moving on to the next display case. He tilted his head at the vivid textile art inside. "You'd never know this was fifteen hundred years old, look at the colors."

Angelo studied it with interest - and also with satisfaction that he'd obviously chosen the exhibition well. "Wonder if the dye's just kept well or it was even brighter when they made it."

"You know, if I had to go back and pick what mutant power I really wanted, there are times I'd go for psychometry without a second thought," Nathan said, still gazing at the art. "Can you imagine being able to touch an object and see fifteen hundred years of history?"

"...no", Angelo answered honestly.

"Well, I can," Nathan said, cracking a smile. "On the other hand, most psychometrists can't shut off their powers. Everything's a double-edged sword, isn't it?" He straightened again, one hand rubbing at his injured shoulder as he turned towards the next display case.

"Not everythin'", Angelo said quietly, turning to follow him. "But most things, yeah."

"So, you haven't said much about your trip," Nathan said.

That got a smile - slight, but distinctly there. "There's not all that much to say. I got through what you gave me to do in the first two days - an' don't think I don't know what that was about - the rest of the time was just... relaxin'."

"Was there lemur-watching, in between the... relaxing?" The pause was deliberate, if good-spirited.

Angelo shot him a look at that, but he grinned. "Sure there was. At least a few hours of it. An' swimmin'." If that caused any dimming in his smile, remembering the incident with the water, it was so slight as to be imperceptible.

"You needed the vacation," Nathan said as they continued to move through the exhibit, stopping at each display case. "Don't expect me to apologize for being sneaky. It's been a hell of a 2007 thus far."

"Yeah, an' only three months old", was the rueful answer. "Still. Plenty of time for it to redeem itself."

"It'll be good for you to get back and into a regular routine again," Nathan said after a moment. "Doing your usual work, and the usual things with your friends..."

"Yeah", Angelo agreed. "Goin' to tell Lorna I'll come back to the class, when we get back to the mansion. An' I think I might add somethin' else to the routine, where there's time..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Those kids in the Preservers... can't help thinkin' what might've been different if someone who wasn't Devlin had got to them first."

"Probably a lot," Nathan said. "Kids are impressionable. Think about what your life would have been like, as 'Miguel' - how that would have changed the person you are now."

"Exactly. An' there's a reason I got sent out to get in with them, an' not everybody else, an' part of it was 'cause they'd accept me..."

Nathan gave him a sidelong look. "So what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinkin' I might start spendin' some time out there. Tryin' to do somethin' about it."

Nathan snorted softly, if not in derision. "Angelo? Stop for a second and think about this. Who are you rooming with?"

"...Forge. Who is all about HeliX." He offered a wry grin. "Guess I should talk to him first, huh?"

"Well, far be it from me to suggest that two brains are better than one, or that both of you have strengths in this area that could be complementary, if you both wanted them to be..."

Angelo laughed at him. "Yeah, point taken. I'll talk to him. An' maybe Mark, too."

"There's also the fact that you do still need to sleep," Nathan went on in that same deadpan tone, "so initiating a brand new project all by yourself may not be feasible."

"It's not really a project", Angelo protested. "Not anythin' official like that... yet. It'd just be a thing worth doin'."

"They're all things worth doing, that's the problem." The tone was still deadpan, but some of the tiredness crept through. "As always, the eternal warning... don't be me."

"You know", Angelo retorted, more seriously than his tone would suggest, "it's never too late for you to stop bein' you that way."

Nathan hesitated, then gave a one-shouldered shrug, deciding that he might as well mention it. "The Russian's going to be my last regular class at the mansion," he told Angelo. "I'll still do independent studies, one-on-one teaching, possibly the language reading groups, too... but it makes more sense, given the sorts of things I do teach."

"An' given everythin' else you do", Angelo agreed, trying to keep the triumph out of his voice. "When'd you decide that?"

"While you were gone, actually. I don't... ever want to half-ass something," Nathan said after a brief pause. "There are lots of ways to still teach that are a lot more realistic for my schedule. If I dropped the regular classes, I could do more powers-training, too. I'm good at that, and I haven't been doing as much of it as I should this year."

"Trainin'... for yourself, or to help other people?"

"Oh, the kids. I don't need much more powers training really, Angelo." It was a bit startling, to say that and know that it was true.

Angelo grinned at him. "Just practice from here on in, then?" He knew there'd been areas where Nathan's previous training had fallen short, once.

"Practice, refining... I doubt I'll ever stop the regular sessions with Charles as long as we're both living in the same place," Nathan pointed out with another soft snort. "But it's useful to have someone training volatile young mutants who can't be easily hurt. And not a word, you know what I mean..."

Angelo had been about to make a wry comment on that, but he held his peace, if only for Nathan's birthday. "So which of them're you gonna be workin' with?"

"Well, I'll be in the usual powers training rotation, I'd think. By the way, I haven't told Ororo or Scott about any of this yet, so this is just between us, yes?"

"Won't tell a soul."

"Good man." Nathan rubbed at his shoulder again, his expression contemplative as he studied the tiny colored-glass cup in the case in front of them. "Now, if I could just find a replacement for Bobby..."

Angelo considered this problem. "Shame you need one right now - Sooraya'd be up for it, but she's too young still."

"Unfortunately yes. Give her a couple of years, though..."

Angelo nodded in full agreement. "We might have to recruit from outside, for this one. Unless someone can talk Medusa into making it more than a voluntary thing."

"Except she'll be heading back to Attilan this summer," Nathan pointed out. "Ah, well. It's something we can brainstorm on later. Maybe Joel's got some suggestions."

"He usually does, when we ask him", Angelo pointed out.

"Inexhaustible font of ideas that he is." Nathan slipped his cell phone out of his pocket, checking for messages, just in case. Nothing.

Angelo eyed him. "You've got it switched on. You'll hear it if they call."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Nathan said ironically. "I slept through Ray making a bloody mess of the kitchen the other morning. Came downstairs and she'd been up and about and dumping out canisters of flour and sugar and the like. The little monster was positively covered in it."

"Yeah, but you were sleepin'. You're not now. Any particular reason she decided to empty all your canisters?"

"Her essentially evil nature? I don't know." Nathan replaced his phone, then rubbed at his shoulder again. "She certainly screamed the house down when I had to bath her, afterwards..."

"An' you weren't gettin' anythin' from her telepathically?" He eyed Nathan's shoulder, but didn't comment.

"She's a baby, she doesn't have to have reasons for being destructive," Nathan said good-humoredly. "And she's also my daughter, so it might be part of her essential nature."

Angelo cracked up at that. "You do have a point. Good thing she's cute."

"It's a defensive mechanism. The cuteness, I mean." Nathan stopped mid-step, gave Angelo a sideways look - and then tugged at his sling, unfastening it.

"...should you be doin' that?"

"No, very likely not." But he wanted the damned thing off.

"I'll tell Amelia on you if you make it worse", Angelo threatened, meaning it.

"She's already convinced that I'm a lost cause," Nathan said blithely. "No additional harm can be done."

"Then maybe I'll tell Moira too. An' Jean."

"There's a technical term for people like you. We call them 'rats'."

"It's only for your own good, you know. How much longer did they say you have to wear that?"

"Another couple of weeks," Nathan said, disgruntedly. "Because I've dislocated it before... I'm so damned tired of injuring this particular arm. Surely we can try the other one, next time."

"See, now you've jinxed it. An' you'll wind up with two bad arms."

Nathan eyed him - then re-fastened the sling. He moved on to the next display case, looking vaguely aggrieved. "Oh, look. It's a goat."