Face The Blood: Angel and Inez
Jun. 12th, 2009 07:48 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsWaiting to hear about their friend, Angel comes to see Inez to find that she's not unscathed herself.
"Here you go," Angel said softly, placing a drink with a straw near where Inez was sitting. "I thought even if you didn't want it now, it could just sit there until you did." She had also been going slightly insane in the quiet camp and had fled to the nearest place she could pick up some drinks and snacks. And seeing as Inez would probably have some trouble with getting stuff for herself, Angel had brought stuff back for her as well.
"Thanks," Inez said quietly, trying to resist the urge to scratch at the bandages that were wrapped around her arms and part of her chest. She was tough, but carrying a wounded little girl who was basically made of barbed wire and razors had to have been one of the most painful experiences of Inez's young life.
The doctors had checked her out and given her a clean bill of health aside from the cuts and scrapes. While she didn't have a full-blown healing factor, Inez knew the wounds would probably have healed totally over by the next morning. Just itched like crazy in the meantime.
In one of the other chairs, Angel sat down with her legs pulled up on the chair so she could lean her head on her knees. "I wasn't gone long enough for there to be more word about Yvette," she acknowledged with a sigh. The fact that she hadn't been there when it had happened made her feel guilty and not doing anything to help now just added to the pile of guilt.
"None of us even saw it," Inez said quietly, sniffling unexpectedly. "I mean, we found this girl who was standing on a mine and Doreen pulled her off while Yvette and I wrecked it, and we were awesome and we did a good thing, and then she just stepped back..." The blonde girl dropped her face into her hands and sniffed loudly. "If we'd just stayed on the road and left those kids there, or got someone else to help..."
If anyone could further rock Angel's foundation, it was this. Inez had always been the strong one - angry, yes. Jealous, once. Angel scrambled out of her chair and into the one next to Inez, taking care of the other girl's arms as she leaned against her. Blinking back tears of her own, she shook her head, saying, "You couldn't have known. It's because of you that she got to safety. There was no way you could have known."
Inez snorted and looked up at Angel, eyes red. "I know. I should know that. Everyone keeps telling me I did good. But I'm supposed to be taking charge of stuff, looking out for people, you know? I'm the worst team leader ever."
"But you can't be everywhere," Angel replied, pillowing her cheek on Inez' shoulder. It was a good lesson, she should remember it. "And you can't know everything. She could have d-died..." Angel hiccupped slightly at the very idea and reached up to swipe at her cheeks. "She could have died if you hadn't been there."
Oh great, Inez thought, now Angel was crying. Get it together, Temp! she could almost hear Adrienne's scolding voice in the back of her mind. Taking a deep breath, she patted the redhead on the back. "Hey, yo. She's gonna be all right. She'll probably laugh it off tomorrow with just a headache or something."
Angel tried not to sob into Inez’ shoulder, seeing as she’d already gotten part of her shirt wet. "I keep trying to think that," she said, scrubbing at her cheeks. "But it’s just. She’s my best friend and I can’t do anything to help and I want her to pull through and I just don’t know what to do."
Inez thought for a moment, then frowned. "I don't know either. But we're not going to be very helpful to her if we're sitting here bawling, y'know? Soon as I can get these damn bandages off, I'm going to see if some can bus us to where they've got Yvette, yo. Betcha everyone else that's waiting around could use something to do to take their minds off worrying, you think?"
"I bet they could," she agreed slowly, thinking about all the RedX folks, students and others, who kept drifting in for news and drifting back out, dejectedly, when there wasn’t any. "That’s a really good idea. I don’t care if I’m just folding blankets or something, having something to do would be good. As long as I was still within shouting distance…"
Inez patted Angel on the shoulder. "Go round everyone up, then. We show up and volunteer as a group, who's going to tell us no? It's what Yvette would want us to do."
Angel impulsively leaned forward to give Inez a quick, hard hug around the shoulders, avoiding the bandaged arms. "Thanks, Inez," she said quietly as she pulled away, using a little bit of her powers to dry her eyes. "I'll be back in five and we'll bug someone until they give us something to do."
"Here you go," Angel said softly, placing a drink with a straw near where Inez was sitting. "I thought even if you didn't want it now, it could just sit there until you did." She had also been going slightly insane in the quiet camp and had fled to the nearest place she could pick up some drinks and snacks. And seeing as Inez would probably have some trouble with getting stuff for herself, Angel had brought stuff back for her as well.
"Thanks," Inez said quietly, trying to resist the urge to scratch at the bandages that were wrapped around her arms and part of her chest. She was tough, but carrying a wounded little girl who was basically made of barbed wire and razors had to have been one of the most painful experiences of Inez's young life.
The doctors had checked her out and given her a clean bill of health aside from the cuts and scrapes. While she didn't have a full-blown healing factor, Inez knew the wounds would probably have healed totally over by the next morning. Just itched like crazy in the meantime.
In one of the other chairs, Angel sat down with her legs pulled up on the chair so she could lean her head on her knees. "I wasn't gone long enough for there to be more word about Yvette," she acknowledged with a sigh. The fact that she hadn't been there when it had happened made her feel guilty and not doing anything to help now just added to the pile of guilt.
"None of us even saw it," Inez said quietly, sniffling unexpectedly. "I mean, we found this girl who was standing on a mine and Doreen pulled her off while Yvette and I wrecked it, and we were awesome and we did a good thing, and then she just stepped back..." The blonde girl dropped her face into her hands and sniffed loudly. "If we'd just stayed on the road and left those kids there, or got someone else to help..."
If anyone could further rock Angel's foundation, it was this. Inez had always been the strong one - angry, yes. Jealous, once. Angel scrambled out of her chair and into the one next to Inez, taking care of the other girl's arms as she leaned against her. Blinking back tears of her own, she shook her head, saying, "You couldn't have known. It's because of you that she got to safety. There was no way you could have known."
Inez snorted and looked up at Angel, eyes red. "I know. I should know that. Everyone keeps telling me I did good. But I'm supposed to be taking charge of stuff, looking out for people, you know? I'm the worst team leader ever."
"But you can't be everywhere," Angel replied, pillowing her cheek on Inez' shoulder. It was a good lesson, she should remember it. "And you can't know everything. She could have d-died..." Angel hiccupped slightly at the very idea and reached up to swipe at her cheeks. "She could have died if you hadn't been there."
Oh great, Inez thought, now Angel was crying. Get it together, Temp! she could almost hear Adrienne's scolding voice in the back of her mind. Taking a deep breath, she patted the redhead on the back. "Hey, yo. She's gonna be all right. She'll probably laugh it off tomorrow with just a headache or something."
Angel tried not to sob into Inez’ shoulder, seeing as she’d already gotten part of her shirt wet. "I keep trying to think that," she said, scrubbing at her cheeks. "But it’s just. She’s my best friend and I can’t do anything to help and I want her to pull through and I just don’t know what to do."
Inez thought for a moment, then frowned. "I don't know either. But we're not going to be very helpful to her if we're sitting here bawling, y'know? Soon as I can get these damn bandages off, I'm going to see if some can bus us to where they've got Yvette, yo. Betcha everyone else that's waiting around could use something to do to take their minds off worrying, you think?"
"I bet they could," she agreed slowly, thinking about all the RedX folks, students and others, who kept drifting in for news and drifting back out, dejectedly, when there wasn’t any. "That’s a really good idea. I don’t care if I’m just folding blankets or something, having something to do would be good. As long as I was still within shouting distance…"
Inez patted Angel on the shoulder. "Go round everyone up, then. We show up and volunteer as a group, who's going to tell us no? It's what Yvette would want us to do."
Angel impulsively leaned forward to give Inez a quick, hard hug around the shoulders, avoiding the bandaged arms. "Thanks, Inez," she said quietly as she pulled away, using a little bit of her powers to dry her eyes. "I'll be back in five and we'll bug someone until they give us something to do."
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