Angelo, Tat - Backdated to Aug 1st

[x-tatiana.livejournal.com]

Tatiana heads over to visit Rachel, since Nate's down for the count. She ends up finding comfort in family of family - namely, Angelo.

Rachel had been very quiet since the trip to see the Professor the
previous night. Too quiet, although no one was really going to
complain about the lack of additional explosions. Right now she was
sitting on the couch in the living room, little arms folded across her
chest and wearing a scowl that wouldn't have looked out of place on
her father's face - and was very nearly as fearsome.

Angelo had been trying and failing to divert her all morning. He just
considered it a victory that nothing at all was rattling and Rachel
wasn't on the ceiling.

"Tat's comin' to see you, Ray", he tried again. "You like Tat, right?"

Big gray sullen eyes finally met his, narrowing. There hadn't been any
additional screaming when Charles had adjusted her psychic
circuit-breaker, but she'd been noticeably abstaining from any of her
usual TK tricks all morning. "G'way."

"'fraid not, mi hermanita. Dom's at a meetin', so you're stuck with me."

"Want Mom. And Dad," she said, almost defiantly. "Want Dad."

Tat had bags. Three, one that was heavier then it looked, and two
others stuffed to the gills. She figured that she could actually give
her... anonymous benefactor... thing a workout, and with overnight
delivery, the things she had for Rachel might just help. Hopefully.
She knocked on the door, not even realising she looked... off. Her
face was puffy, and she looked exhausted - mostly because she was
worrying, and alternatively wishing that she could make some
sort of difference.

She knew that it wouldn't do any good, probably, but this way, they'd
have them. So if Rachel wanted to read, they could read. Make a
difference.

Because she couldn't. Not with Nate.

So she was here, bags on her shoulder.

"You can't have your dad, Ray, we've explained this. An' your mom's
busy tryin' to make him okay." The knock at the door was welcome, and
he called out "Door's not locked", getting up anyway and heading over
to let Tatiana in.

Tat pushed open the door, flashing a tired smile at Angelo that didn't
even seem kind of genuine. "Hey. How're you?" She was already looking
past him, at the little girl that she could more then identify with.
"Hey, kidlet."

Rachel gazed at her for a long moment, the fearsome pout fading a
little, replaced by a flicker of curiosity at the sight of Tat's
burdens. "Hi..."

That hopeful sign got a faint smile out of Angelo. "Could be better,
but it could be worse. Thanks for comin' by."

"No other place I'd rather be." Well, that was a lie, but it wasn't a
bad one. "Did you have lunch already?" She'd brought some stuff she
knew Rachel liked, from when she'd pulled long hours putting the
office back together after metaphorical paper explosions, plus the
Label Incident.

Her gambit had apparently worked very well. Curiosity was winning out
over the monumental sulk, and Rachel slipped down off the couch,
peering up at Tat. "Can I see?" she asked, eyes fixed on the bags.
Whether it was natural curiosity or she'd actually picked up on the
fact that the bags were for her, of course, wasn't certain.

"Only if you'll let me look, too. Okay? I'm not sure what all's in
here." She honestly didn't - there was a lot of stuffing things in
bags, with more set to come later. She sat down near the couch, and
set the bags down on the floor - one heavy with books, one with toys,
and one with blankets and stuffed animals.

"Maybe we could read a story, too?" And hopefully stay away from the
ones that Nate had read her.

Angelo wandered over to settle near them, ready to come nearer if
Rachel decided she didn't want him to go away after all. "Stories are
good, right, Ray? An' you an' Tat can go through all the rest of this
stuff."

"Okay," Rachel said after a moment, peering into one of the bags. Her
first smile in a number of days appeared as she pulled out a stuffed
black and white cat. She sat down, hugging it, and although the smile
didn't quite fade, her lower lip quivered.

That was all it really took, and Tat scooted closer, moving to hug the
little girl. "It's okay." She said it softly, and murmured in Spanish
as she hugged her, the words not really the important thing - not for
Rachel, anyway. //I understand. I do, sweetheart. I've done what
you're doing, and it'll be okay.//

Nate would be alright. He had to be. What was the use of being able to
do all of this, to save the world a billion times over like the Xmen
did if they couldn't help one of their own? She pressed a kiss to
Rachel's forehead. "So, what's her name?" Obviously meaning the cat.

Rachel eyed the cat. "... Spot," she finally said.

"Cute name", Angelo offered, scooting a little closer to the group.
"She gonna be friends with Mr. Bunny?"

There might have been a distracted nod as the stuffed animal got
turned over and over in the girl's hands. Tat looked up at him, her
eyes dark. She spoke quietly, knowing that Rachel could more then
occupy herself if she had enough distracting things. "I thought that I
might be able to do some good."

"You are doin' good", Angelo assured her, keeping his own voice low.
"Hey, you got a smile out of her, 's more than I've managed since they
brought him back."

Tat stiffened when he said him, and it took her a second to be
able to talk. "Well." She paused, trying to think of what to say.
"That's good. I'm glad." She was, too, she just- Since they brought
him back. Somehow, the phrasing of that bugged her. "I'll keep
coming, if you don't care?"

"More than welcome", he said reassuringly. "Whenever you want."

Crying was bad. And right now? Crying was really, really bad.
Rachel wasn't looking at her, thank god, but her eyes welled.
"I-Bathroom. I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." She
stood abruptly, trying to stop her face from crumpling as she moved up
and past Rachel.

Who watched her go, little face solemn, and then hugged her stuffed
cat more tightly, her expression gone distant for a moment. Then her
jaw set in a stubborn line that made her a miniature female copy of
her father, and she got up, heading over to investigate the bag some
more, Spot tucked under one arm.

Angelo pushed himself up and over to join her, carefully. "Findin'
anythin' else good in there yet, chiquita?"

Rachel pulled a fuzzy blanket out of the bag, unfolding it and
examining the Disney characters on it. Then she sat down with a thump
and pulled it over her head.

Tat had managed to turn the water on as she choked back the urge to
cry. It wasn't like she was here for this. The last thing Rachel need
was for her to break down, and so what if the person Tat would
normally go to when she was like this was Nate? So what?

She splashed some water on her face, her mouth set in a line. It
wasn't a huge thing. Hold herself steady, hold herself together. She
could totally do it. Totally. She turned the water off, taking a deep
breath before she came back out.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her eyes flicking to the Rachel-sized lump under
the blanket before they went back to Angelo.

"It's not your fault", was the quiet response, where he was sitting a
little dispiritedly on the floor next to Rachel and her blanket. "An'
you did help." After a moment's thought, he raised an arm, beckoning
and offering. "C'mere."

Tat's brows rose, and even though she balked for a second, she moved
closer, almost warily. "What?"

"'m not gonna hurt you. Why would I do that?" he asked, honestly
confused. "C'mon. You get to be here too."

She shook her head for a moment, and settled, not far from him. It
wasn't that she thought that he'd hurt her - far from it. It was just
that she didn't belong here. She did, but... She'd probably
taken about twenty million steps back as far as relating to people in
the mansion went. She'd nearly trampled Kevin, was a basketcase around
Inez, was ridiculously sporadic about working for Monet - not to
mention all the people who probably thought she should be using her
powers more, and then there was the whooole mess with-

Well. Basically, she just.... wasn't sure. "I'm here," she said, and
wondered what else there was to say. She wasn't used to this.

Angelo shook his head, shuffled a few inches closer and wrapped his
arm around her. "You get to be here too, Tat. An' you get to be
upset, even Rachel knows that."

"I- I'm okay." She was watching that blanket, watching Rachel. She was
miserable - more then miserable, she was trying not to cry. Her
shoulders hitched once, then again. She was trying- she could be okay.
And not just burst into tears, because that's why she was Rachel's
friend. Because she could keep a good head on her shoulders.

"Look, you care about Nate too. You don't have to pretend, not here.
I know we don't know each other so good, but... it's okay. To let it
out." That was a little clumsy, and he told himself wryly he'd been
through far too much therapy if he was using the words.

"I don't have a dad," she said quietly. That didn't really make sense,
probably, but it was the only way she knew how to say it without
sounding like some sort of pathetic... something. "So. Uh-" She bit
her lower lip, and then the tears started to dribble - Damn it. "So-"
She hiccuped once, wishing she knew what to do.

"I don't have one either", was the soft answer. "Died when I was
five. So Nate's kind of as close as it gets these days, right?" He
was speaking for himself, but he had a fair idea he was talking for
her too.

She really hadn't wanted to cry on him, but she turned, her face
buried against his shoulder as she cried. She didn't know what else to
do - hell, she was only sixteen, and her life had already been
pretty much uprooted and turned upside down.

Then, to find someone who was so supportive, and to lose that
person? She was trying to remember that of course he'd wake up.
He had too. He did, or what else would she do? She knew she'd move on,
but-

That didn't stop her from crying all over Angelo.

He didn't try to stop her, just made vague soothing noises and held
her, figuring that was all she needed. Glancing over at the
blanket-covered lump, he sent Ray, I know you're listenin'. Want
to come over here?

Rachel flung the blanket back, her red hair standing nearly on end
with static electricity for a moment. "Mom says, Dad's head is...
iron!" she said, almost triumphantly. "Wake up, be cranky." Despite
the obviously truncated version of whatever Moira had said, the
slightly creepy thing was how accurate a portrayal of Moira's likely
tone the toddler had managed.

Angelo blinked at her, then laughed briefly. "Yeah, your mom's right.
He's too stubborn to not wake up. C'mere, though."

Rachel did, but only after retrieving Spot. She flopped down between
Angelo and Tatiana, leaning on their knees. "Show me what's in the
OTHER bags, Tat!" she urged, and the slightly canny light in her gray
eyes did not go unnoticed.

Tat sniffed, and forced a smile. "Well, I don't know what's in the
other bags. Let's see..." She scrubbed at her eyes before she reached
for one, and then bit her lip, 'thinking'. "Wellll. Do you think it
might be a whale?"

Rachel let out an alarming cackle. "Too small!"