xp_logs | Angelo has two visitors

Muttering softly about her decision not to wear slippers, Marie pattered through the halls of the medlab on icy feet. -You'd think I'd have learned from living down here that the floors are bloody cold,- she thought. Dreams from Sunday and before kept her sleepless and, remembering her insomnia when she was recovering from her injuries in the fall, she had decided to go check on Angelo. He was allowed visitors and, well, it couldn't hurt to look in on him. She pushed his door open a couple inches and whispered his name. "Angelo..."

Angelo was lying in the dark, trying to sleep, which was proving difficutl. As he turned over yet again, trying to get comfortable, he heard the door open and Marie's voice, and sat up, reaching to turn on the bedside lamp. "Marie?"

"Hi." Her voice still low, Marie slid into the room. "I never could sleep right when I was down here," she said, crossing the room. "I thought I'd come see how you were." When the light came on she was by the bed, smiling at him, her hair sleep-rumpled and a dark green robe wrapped around her.

Angelo smiled in return, glad of the company. "Thanks. Glad you did - I can't sleep either."

"I've been thinking about you." She got a chair and brought it over, curling up in it. "I'm so glad you're going to be okay. Losing you would have been horrible." Her eyes got misty and distant and she looked down at her lap where she was toying with the ties of her robe, her head full of thoughts of Jean.

Angelo glanced over at her, almost surprised, having had no idea how much he'd come to mean to her. He still had difficulty with the idea of non-treacherous friends, with a few notable exceptions. Noticing the distant look in her eyes, he stretched over to pat her hand, worried. "Hey. I'm gonna be fine."

"Yeah." Marie looked up at him, blinking to clear her vision. "This time, things weren't quite so horrible." She stroked the back of his hand, her skin covered by thin dark green fabric.

Angelo frowned. "Nobody will tell me what happened. I just heard the noise, and then... the fire." He paused, before asking carefully, "...This time?"

Marie looked a little startled, as though she were unaware that she had spoken aloud before. "We..." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "We don't talk about it much. But since you've been through this one ...where did you want me to start? This time, or last time?"

Angelo looked at her seriously. "Whichever's easier for you to start with. Unless you'd rather get the harder one over with."

Marie straightened and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know why they won't tell you, but I will. No one was with me when I went down with Stanley, or after in the military labs, and I wish I had someone to tell me what happened to me. I can't see how not knowing helps. I'll start with this time." She leaned forward in her chair, eyes on his, her face serious.

"This time, men from Pete's former employers broke into the mansion to kill him. They failed to do so and ended up trying to lock the place down and take hostages, and they failed in that as well. What happened to you, from what I know, is that John was engaging some of them with fire and was taken down by another with an electrical shock. His fire went out of control and you were caught in it. He blames himself, and I'm sure other people do too." She waited, watching Angelo carefully, gauging his reaction.

Angelo scowled. "You tell me who says that, an' I'll talk to them. You just told me he got taken down, he didn't try anything he knew he couldn't handle. Right?"

Marie nodded. "John does not fuck up with the fire," she said simply. "But he has a history of screwing up in other ways. Other than that, what I've told you is about all that matters, I think. The rest you can catch up with on the journals."

Angelo nodded, and, not wanting to push, waited for her to tell the story of "last time" in her own time.

"Last time." Marie got up from her chair and paced the room, arms wrapped tightly around herself. "It was spring. May. It was night. A man a named Stryker, a military man, and his team took the mansion in the dark. They used tranquilizers. They took some of the kids, as many as they could before Terry screamed. Artie. Jubilee. We ran. The older ones of us, we know where the boltholes are, and we got the littles out. I wake up thinking I can hear their boots, the scrape of their uniforms on the walls... it's what woke me up this last time, I thought I was dreaming." Her voice was steady but her eyes were looking straight through the walls as she spoke.

Angelo pushed himself further up in the bed, looking at her in disbelief. "You're telling me this has happened before? You have to be... no, you're really not jokin', are you?"

Marie turned to look at him, moving slowly, her feet an inch from the floor. "It happened before." Her voice was flat, the anger under it locked down tightly.

Angelo's face twisted, the fury building, directed mostly at the absent staff. When he spoke, his accent thickened, under less control through the emotion. "An' it seems to me that the staff here did nothin' to stop it happenin' again. Did they?" Under the blanket, his fists were clenched hard. "Mierda."

"I don't know. I don't... they don't tell us things, you know? It's all... hushed. I may have a uniform, but they still don't tell me things." Marie forced her feet back to the floor and brought her eyes up to meet Angelo's. "We're children, you know." The words were bitter, laden with suppressed emotion. "We have to trust them." She hugged herself hard to keep everything under control.

Angelo all but snarled, at that. "Children? Fuck that. You, and me, and Sarah, and, hell, Artie and Miles, 'v had lives every little bit as tough as anything they've seen. Maybe the littles c'n trust them, but I dunno if I can. Not any more, not after this. They told me this place was safe..." He paused, before asking, "Speakin' of which, what did happen Sunday?"

"That." Marie ground her teeth audibly. "That... Shiro. And Piotr. Past gang connections collide." She was beyond angry, her face going white thinking about it.

Angelo looked at her hard, picking up on her obvious anger and feeling his own ready to rush back up, but having to ask anyway, he said levelly, "What happened?"

"Shiro... I guess he got set up. Thought he was bringing Piotr for a meeting with some contacts and instead they came out with guns and snatched Yana as leverage." She leaned on the far wall, hands wound in her hair, looking at him. "So. Paige and I evened things out. But... it was a very bad scene."

Angelo went as white as she had, with pure rage. "'Yana? What did they do to 'Yana?" he demanded urgently, before forcibly calming himself down enough to take in the rest of her words. "And... Paige? Is she okay?"

"Paige is fine." Marie held out a hand to calm him. "She's good in a crisis. They grabbed Yana at the theatre when we were waiting for Piotr and Shiro. Artie saw them and we went after her. It was really scary for him, and worse for Yana."

"No kidding", Angelo said grimly, forcing himself to calm down. "How's she doin' now?"

"Yana? She's a wreck. She found out that Piotr was somehow responsible for their parents' death when he was involved with the Russian mob. And she had a gun to her head for it too. You can imagine." Marie looked as though she were on the verge of tears, but she only shrugged. "Shit happens, I guess."

"Bring her down here", Angelo requested quietly. "Unless it'd scare her worse, until I'm fixed up a bit more, I wanna see her."

"I'll talk to Kitty about it," Marie promised. "She'll talk to Yana."

Angelo nodded, accepting that as the only promise Marie could give for now. "God, I wish people would leave the little ones alone. Why do they always go for the real children?"

"Because they know how to make it hurt." Marie came back across the room, feet barely brushing the floor, and fell into the chair like someone had cut the strings holding her up. She looked despairing. "I tried to talk to Charles and Scott, Ange. I don't think they get it. Or if they do, I don't know... why do /I/ feel like a child when I talk to them? I feel so helpless."

Angelo reached for her hand, in an attempt at comfort. "It's like you said - they still think we're kids, so of course that's how they treat us, even if they don't mean to."

"I put on their goddamn uniform for them, Ange," she spat, standing up and pulling away suddenly. "I kill for them. I put my life on the line. But I'm still a child. I still feel like a child when they look at me, like a little girl playing at being grown up and I can't be a little girl anymore but they won't give me anything more I can do to help. Damnit." She stopped in the middle of the room, pulling her own hair. "I don't know what to do. I'm scared and I'm afraid they're not going to do what needs doing."

Angelo's jaw set, resolute. "Well, if they won't, then we'll have to - us, and anyone else who's prepared. We've both been there - we know how to do what it takes."

"I know." Marie looked at him, biting her lip. "We just have to be ready. We will be. It's not their fault they need to treat us like children. It's just how they are. As long as we know the truth, we'll be okay." She subsided back into the chair, pulling herself back together with slow, even breaths.

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. We know. So I guess it's up to us to protect the ones who don't - and better than they have, far as I can see. 'M gonna teach anyone who wants it to fight the street way - to shoot, if they'll let me. Gotta do somethin'."

"I go to the firing range," Marie said conversationally, looking down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. "And Moira's teaching me how to use a rifle. I train with Logan five mornings a week. I wouldn't mind company at the range. I'm hoping Jake will start coming with me too. I need to get better."

Angelo cocked an eyebrow at her. "Wanna learn to use handguns? Rifle's not much good for anythin' but snipin' or huntin' - won't help you much at short range."

"I've got my basic handgun lessons down, yes." Marie smiled up at Angelo. "And anyway I can kill someone without getting hurt is useful to me. If you want to help me with the gun practice, I'd love that. I'll return the favour as I can."

Angelo nodded. "Sure I'll help. 'F we're gonna be defending this place, need to give you all the tools you can get. And hey, it's my weapon of choice. Wish I could've brought one with me, now."

"We'll see what we can do," Marie said with a warm smile. She reached out and squeezed Angelo's hand gently. "We can all work on this together. We'll be okay, as long as we make sure of it ourselves. I'm so glad you're going to get better. It'll be great to have you back."

Angelo squeezed her hand back. "Thanks. It'll be good to get out of here, too. Can't wait t'move back upstairs."

"There's been an excess of glitter going around," she said lightly. "It's a good thing you missed it. We'll have a proper party when you rejoin us, I promise."

Angelo grinned. "Glitter? Who was behind that? An' you know me - never one to turn down a party."

"Amanda, the first time," Marie said with an amused expression. "Clarice and co-conspirators second. Beware the glitter."

Angelo laughed out loud, now. "Amanda? Wouldn't've put her down as the glitter kind. Gonna have to watch Clarice, though, she totally is."

"Ah, Angelo, it is a woman's prerogative to switch kinds when you least expect it." Her cold mood melted and Marie laughed. "It keeps the men on their toes."

Angelo looked at her warmly, glad she seemed to be cheering up. Even if it couldn't last in their world, some was better than none. "Noted. So, how've you been since I've been stuck down here?"

"Mmm." She leaned back in the chair, hugging herself. "It's had it's seriously crappy moments lately, but, on a personal level, I think I'm pretty good." Her smile was secretive, verging on impish, and when she met Angelo's eyes, a spark of happiness shone through.

Angelo looked at her hard, one eyebrow raised in amused delight. "Marie! Are you holding out on me?" he demanded.

"Would I do /that/?" Marie asked in mock dismay, still smiling.

Angelo pretended to think about that, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, you would. Now, spill."

"Nothing much to spill," Marie said, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. "Logan and I are working things out. I'm mad at him about some things still, but we got everything out in the open now and it's been... good." Her expression said that good was probably an understatement. "I don't know how I can manage to be furious with him and in love at the same time," she admitted. "Or happy on one level and messed up on another. But I'll take it."

Angelo blinked, then gave her a slow smile. "In love, is it? That's great!"

Marie blushed and dropped her forehead to her knees. "Oops. Didn't mean to use quite those words..." she looked up at Angelo, biting her lip. "Was kind of avoiding that exact phrase but... yeah."

Angelo smiled at her, squeezing her hand again. "Aren't you the one who told me it's nothin' to be ashamed of?"

"Point." Marie remembered their past conversations and laughed at herself. "I just... it's complicated between us. I know you understand something about that. I'm sure you can imagine there's issues. But. It doesn't change how I feel, how I've felt for a long time."

"Yeah, I know all about complications", Angelo said softly. "Can't see that it's quite the same thing with you two, though, unless there's stuff I don't know about. Wanna talk about it?"

"You mean aside from the obvious issues of my skin, and the age difference, and the fact that I know far too much about him for my own peace of mind?" Marie looked thoughtful. "There's other things, but those are the ones I could talk about. I tell myself that time's going to take care of a lot of that. I just..." She looked up at Angelo again. "Remind me not to fall in love with the most important person in my life next time," she said dryly. "I hope there's not a next time, but, it's scary. I don't know what I'm doing, Angelo. I never even had a boyfriend before Bobby, and that... This is all new. And he is my one Good Thing. I can't lose him."

Angelo shrugged. "'Fraid I'm not the one to remind you of that - I did the exact same thing. Fell in love with the most important person in my life, I mean." He sighed, still holding her hand. "Listen - you two've been through so much together already, you really think this is gonna ruin it? You're not gonna lose him, Em. I can all but guarantee it. And for me, I'd say the age difference's about the least important thing."

"I hope you're right." Marie shook her head, expression a little incredulous. "He gives me back so much, Angelo. It's like he's sifting through the ashes of me and bringing me gifts of myself. He can /kiss/ me, and it doesn't hurt him. And even when it does, he's never afraid..."

Angelo smiled softly. "Sounds like you're on to a really good thing." Suddenly intense, he told her, "Whatever you do, Marie, don't let it go. Don't let him go, 'cause you think it won't last, 'cause you think it'll hurt less than losing him another way, or anything else. You know how close I came to doing that - don't wanna see you make my mistakes."

"I won't. I may be afraid, but it's never stopped me yet." Marie met Angelo's intensity with her own. "I'll never just let it go. Even if I thought I'd die of it, I wouldn't stop. It's not living otherwise and at least this way, I'd go first."

Angelo nodded, satisfied. "Exactly. For all the... complications with Paige, I'd rather this way than not have her at all."

Marie held his hand tightly, wanting to hug him. "Yes. Exactly. I'm glad you understand. It means a lot to me. I have faith in you and Paige. She's damn tough and so are you and it'll work out, somehow, and you won't lose each other. Not in the ways that matter."

Angelo looked at her seriously. "I know. Well, as much as I can know. Nor will you and Logan."

"Thanks. And here I came down to make you feel better." Marie gave him a radiant smile.

Angelo smiled in return. "Hey, just returnin' the favor. What else are friends for?"

"Smuggling down contraband," she replied cheekily. "Is there anything you need that I should be setting you up with?"

Angelo brightened noticeably. "Depends how "contraband" you're willing to go. Paige's bringing down my stuff when she can, but a bottle of something wouldn't hurt to help me sleep. Or cigarettes - Dr. McCoy won't let me have any."

"Mmm." Marie looked thoughtful. "Have to see what it'll do with the painkillers, and where I can come up with things. The ventilation in here's good, though, so he might not notice the cigarettes. But the nicotine will slow your healing, you know."

Angelo grinned slightly guiltily. "Yeah, but Amanda's speedin' it up lots. It'll balance?" he suggested hopefully.

"I'll do what I can. I think our resident witch is the source of many good things. I'll speak to her. No one suspects the good girl, though, so I'll do the running."

Angelo grinned. "You're a star. Thanks. If you have trouble with the real contraband, food's always good, too."

"Sure. I can do that too. Brownies?" Marie offered with a smile. "Chocolate makes everything better."

"Brownies sound great", he told her with an answering smile.

"Great." She stood up and, leaning over, kissed him on the head. "Brownies it is, to start."

Angelo gave her hand a final squeeze before letting it go. "Thanks for coming down. 'Preciate it."

"Any time. You can always call up. I'm free at weird hours, you can leave me a message and I'll come when I can." Marie stopped at the door before leaving. "Thanks for being a fighter, Angelo. Other people might have given up a long time ago. I'm glad you're still here."

"I'm not goin' anywhere", he told her with determination. "Not when there's those here that can't do their own fightin' yet, not that they should need to."

Marie grinned at him. "We'll stick it out," she said. "Make sure this doesn't happen again, and make sure that one of these days, safe won't be a lie." She blew him a kiss then. "Get well, my friend."

He nodded. "Workin' on it." As she turned to walk through the door, he called out suddenly, "And Marie? Good luck with Logan. Don't listen to what anyone else says - if he makes you happy, fuck 'em."

Marie leaned back in the room for a moment, grinning. "I'll keep that in mind." With that, she was gone, the door closing silently behind her.

Angelo looked at the door for a moment, smiling, then lay back down to try and get some sleep.

Marie-Ange stood, just outside the infirmary doors, eyes shut, clentching her fists. She had probably put this off too long already, but before, her excuses had been valid. Angelo wasn't awake, couldn't have visitors, needed to see other people first. Now, it was just her own fear; both of angering him, and of upsetting him to the point that he undid some of Amanda's healing, keeping her from visiting.

She exhaled slowly, and headed through the doors to the isolation ward, stopping briefly to check in with Dr. Barlett, just to make sure. Once at the room, she tapped gently on the observation window to get Angelo's attention, and waited.

Angelo looked up on hearing the tap, then looked vaguely surprised to see who it was, but moved quickly to the door to let her in. "Hey, Marie-Ange."

"Hi. I would ask how you are feeling, but since you are still here, I can guess that 'bad' is likely, no?" She half-smiled, looking faintly uncomfortable. "This is... " She signed, and dropped into the plastic chair next to Angelo's bed. "This is awkward. I think I need to apoligize to you."

"Better", Angelo assured her, before frowning in confusion at her last words. "Apologize? Why?"

Marie-Ange sighed. ~No other way that to say it.~ "There are other dreams, and one of them was about the attack. I saw it .. before it happened."

Angelo took that in, still not completely understanding. "You saw it... in a dream? What did you see?"

Marie-Ange took a deep, slow breath. "Fire, mostly. You, John, sometimes, Paige or Jono, but mostly you. I should have said something."

Angelo took a breath, forcing any anger back down. Don't take it out on her, do *not* take it out on her... "Okay. Did you have any reason to think it was gonna happen?"

"Yes? No? I .. do not know." Marie-Ange shook her head. "I knew the dreams were happening before the attack, but .. not all of them happened, and not all my nightmares came true."

Angelo nodded. "Which ones came true?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"At the beginning, it was just one about Doug's power, and the one about Bobby. Then, I had dreams about Manuel before he even arrived here, and now the attack." Marie-Ange curled her legs underneath her in the chair. "I should have known, and so now, I am apoligizing. I should have said something, because even the chance of it happening... "

"Could you have stopped it?" Angelo asked her bluntly. "I mean, did you see anything clear enough to tell you when it would happen? Or how?"

"I do not know if I could have, but someone might have been able to." Marie-Ange answered softly. "If you had known, or even suspected there was a fire, you might not be here."

Angelo looked at her hard. "See, this is why you should ask before going all guilty. I did know there was a fire - and someone in it. Didn't know it was John, or I might not have gone in after him with his immunity and all, but it was a choice. Okay?"

Marie-Ange shrugged. "Still, I should have said something, so you could make a.. I think, it is 'informed choice'?"

Angelo frowned. "Marie-Ange, look at me. Can you think of anything you could have told me that would've stopped me going in to help someone else? Did you see John in the fire?"

Marie-Ange shook her head slowly. "I do not think I did. I saw a lot of people, most of them were you, but not John that I recall."

Angelo nodded encouragingly. "See? If you'd told me you saw anyone but him in the fire, it wouldn't've made any difference. Promise."

"Still, I cannot help but feel like I should have said something." Marie-Ange frowned. "What use are the dreams if I do not at least tell people what I see, no?"

"Well, you didn't know, not for sure. You do now. So now, you start telling people what you see", he told her.

"Yes. Yes, I am." She nodded, gesturing vaguely at the lab outside. "I get to spend several nights being tested. I think Dr. Mactaggart is making up new tests."

Angelo pulled a face. "Oh. Sounds like fun."

Marie-Ange looked around at the small stack of machines next to the bed, and frowned. "I think you might know, yes?"

Angelo followed her gaze, not smiling. "Them? Yeah." He bit back his next words, about the machines having been to keep him alive and monitor him during his coma rather than for tests, afraid to set her guilt off again.

Marie-Ange leaned back into her chair, and after a long awkward pause, spoke again. "Still, I .. feel like I should make it up to you. Even if I am not responsible."

"You wanna make it up to me?" Angelo told her with a sudden grin. "Feed me. Food always works."

Marie-Ange smiled. "I can do that. At least you, I know will not throw up on me."

Angelo laughed, relieved to see her smile. "No, I think I can promise that."

"Good." She shook her head, but remained smiling. "I end up owing so many people food lately. Is there anything specific I should get, or anything that Dr. McCoy will have my head for if I bring you?"

Angelo thought about that. "Chocolate", he said. "And I don't think Dr. McCoy would be mad about anything you could get your hands on."

Marie-Ange grinned at that last, obviously amused at something. "Chocolate, that I can provide."

Angelo raised an eyebrow, amused. "What's so funny? And... thanks."

Marie-Ange glanced at the observation window quickly, checking for any blue-furred or lab-coated onlookers. "It is.. you would probably be surprised to know what I can, ah, get my hands on, as you say. " She stood. "But, I should not give away secrets so easily, I think. Our professor seems fond of groundings for _that_ kind of thing." Marie-Ange opened the door quietly. "As soon as I can, chocolate is yours. "

Angelo just looked at her, intrigued. "Really now? Well, anything you can sneak down here'd be welcome, if you can get it past the Doc. But chocolate's a good start", he added with a wicked grin.

Marie-Ange nodded as she headed out of the isolation ward. "Thank you, for lsitening. Also, for not being angry." She left the infirmary, as quietly as she had entered, not stopping until she was out of sight of the room and well on her way to the kitchen.