xp_logs | Nathan and Julio, Wednesday evening (Reply)

Julio is sneaky and actually manages to distract Nathan with some work news. Nathan gives him a loose end or two to start tying up; apparently he can't get away from the issue of mutant child soldiers just yet.

The soup was actually very good. Far, far better than anything Amelia had pushed on him yesterday, and not just because he had more of an appetite today. Nathan was just lifting a spoonful from the bowl again when he was aware that someone not red-headed or Jean-Paul was standing in the doorway.

"I'd wave but I can't move the other arm very well."

"That's all right," Julio replied. He held up a manila folder. "I come with work, so it might be better to chuck something at my head, yes?" While others had been in total crisis mode, Julio had kept his head down and diligently pursued the task he had been set the week before. He figured it would be more productive to channel his anxiety into positive tasks, like yelling at people on the phone. For Justice.

Nathan couldn't suppress a quick, incredulous smile. "You got in here with work? What, did you have someone distract Moira?"

"I have my ways," Julio said. He knew that he would be drawn and quartered by about half the mansion for what he was doing, especially by Nathan's tenacious gray guard dog, but when one was healing injuries one tended to get bored, and dwell. Distraction was healthy for the mind. And hell, what he had was good news.

Julio pulled over a chair and sat next to the bed. "You know the assignment you gave me before you went off and got beaten up again?"

Nathan sipped at another spoonful of soup gingerly. He really did not like the tremor in his hands, especially that it was still there after a day of rest. "Uh... the 'become an expert on all the issues facing the new DDR centre in Brazil' assignment?" he ventured, and couldn't help a faint twist of his lips at the irony. He couldn't get away from the subject, it seemed.

"Yes, and I'm going to remind you again, that I don't speak Portuguese," he gave Nathan a pointed look, "But thankfully I was able to track down some people on staff that spoke Spanish, and--" he opened the contents of the folder, proudly displaying them for Nathan's perusal.

Nathan set his spoon down, peering at the documents and willing his eyes to focus. "Hell," he murmured, a pleased smile playing on his lips, "you've been a busy boy. Then again, your father is a very good 'fixer', too..."

"However, I did all of this legally," Julio said quickly. "Something the Old Man should maybe look into one day," he added sourly. He held one up for Nathan to see. He'd made the font extra large as a joke, but ironically it was coming in handy. "I secured extra funding for the de Janeiro branch, with a couple more interested donors, and Gaspar's been able to interview and add on some extra staff. Plus, if anyone wants to try anything stupid, I used a couple of my father's contacts and name-dropped some others so there'll be some extra protection as well. Don't worry about that being public, only Gaspar knows about it."

"Ah, good. Can't be cowboys overtly, after all. At least not too often." Nathan leaned back against the carefully arranged pillows, soup forgotten as his eyes went distant. His brain was kicking back into gear, if sluggishly. Brazil, DDR... there was something he should be remembering here.

"So, the kids should be okay there, yes?" Julio said, straightening the papers and arranging them back in their folder. "Eat your soup or your wife will kill me," he added.

"...I have something I need you to do," Nathan said slowly. Finally remembering the conversation that he and Machado really should have waited to have at a time they weren't part of a complicated set-up to get him captured by Taygetos. "Talk to Moira. Then talk to Gaspar. The kids that went to Muir, from the New Dawn compound in Brazil... I want you to see if it's at all feasible for them to go to Gaspar's centre."

Julio frowned and scratched his head. "I can't think of a reason why not. We were able to get a new building, there'd be plenty of room..." He snapped the folder shut and pulled out his cellphone, looking at the time. "In fact, I could call right now--"

Nathan shook his head a little. "No, missing my point," he said with a sigh. "I know there's room. I want to know if it's the right place for them." He shifted slightly on the bed, suppressing the grunt of pain, although he went noticeably whiter, his hand going to his side again. "Which means, you need to play go-between. Conference-call, maybe, between Gaspar and Moira... or Charles, maybe." Moira was staying awfully close to him here in the infirmary, he was noticing. "Make it happen, if it should. Find out why not, otherwise. Make sense?"

"Yes," Julio said, nodding. "Gaspar's got some great people on staff, psychologists, even a mutant who can heal he was able to recruit from the slums. Plus, more than anything, they won't have to worry about people coming after them, or who'd think it'd be a great place to grab some already traumatized kids." One of Julio's biggest concerns was the centre's vulnerability to outside attack. He was painfully aware just how easy someone could snatch a kid if they really wanted to. "One of the police higher-ups is a guy who owes my Dad several favors. I called a few in. The centre's very much off-limits now."

"Sounds like you've taken the file and made it yours." Nathan smiled, but his vision was blurring with fatigue again, and it struck him that he hadn't finished his soup. "Can't say as though I mind that," he muttered, sipping at another spoonful, half of which wound up back in the bowl again.

Julio sighed. "Get some rest, Old Man," he said simply. "This will all get done while you rest, all right?"

"You're all going to be putting me out of a job, next." He laid the spoon down again, and decided that yes, he was going to say it. "There... might be more," he said, his voice more uneven. "Maybe. I don't know, SHIELD might do it all themselves, and I don't know if we could ever have that kind of capacity..."

Julio set the file down and leaned closer. "What, Nathan? What capacity?" Oh God please don't have a seizure your wife will KILL me...

"The kids from Taygetos," Nathan said, giving him an uncomprehending look that suggested that yes, Julio should be following along. "They can't stay in government custody forever."

The boy's eyes widened. "How many...?"

Nathan paused, then both his eyebrows went up. "You know, I have... no idea. Was kind of out of it on Monday night."

Julio rubbed his face. "So, you're telling me that they're ...what, not a bunch of vegetables?"

"No." Nathan sighed, leaning back against the pillows again. "Don't know why, either." His lips tugged upwards briefly. "Not complaining."

Julio ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled, thinking. "I guess, I could talk to my father. Run down a few of his contacts, maybe see about places that we could place them." He was more than a little overwhelmed by this information. The logistics alone entirely sucked balls, but...

"No... has to be above-board. By the book. They don't deserve anything less." Nathan raised his good hand and rubbed at his eyes. "No rush on it, but we should have something put together. A package. Just in case."

"I meant that," Julio said, giving Nathan a look. "When was the last time I presented you with an entirely below-the-board scenario?" He flipped the folder closed. Already he was running possible scenarios and contacts through his head. "I'll see what I can do about scheduling that interview with Gaspar and Moira and the Professor in the meantime. You should rest, yes?" Julio suddenly had a lot of work to do.