Angel and Sooraya; Angel and Angelo

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Angel goes to talk to Sooraya, and they discuss what happened in Africa and Angelo.



Angel made her way quickly through the halls, her backpack hanging off her shoulder as she moved. She'd gotten Sooraya's email just as she'd been leaving campus, and all sorts of alarm-bell things had gone off in her head. It wasn't every day Sooraya needed to vent. Clearly something had happened.

She knocked on Sooraya's and Yvette's suite door even as she opened it, poking her head in. "Sooraya, hey. Anyone home?"

Sooraya looked up from the laundry she was sorting out and quickly stepped outside her bed room. "I am here, Angel. I was sorting out my laundry. Come on in." She tossed a quickly look over her shoulder at the laundry, deciding it could wait for a bit. Stepping over to the small kitchenette she asked: "I was going to make myself some hot chocolate. With whipped cream. Would you like some?"

"You know I can never say no to hot chocolate," Angel said as she slipped fully into the suite, closing the door behind her. "So what happened in Africa?" No use in beating around the bush.

"Let me finish up the chocolate first. okay?" Sooraya quickly heated the chocolate and poured it in two mugs. She dug out the can of whipped cream from the fridge and brought all of it over to the table. "Here you go."

Finally seated, she sipped from the chocolate before saying: "Remember me telling about the children disappearing?" At Angel's nod Sooraya continued: "We managed to figure out what had happened to them and we rescued them... But not without quite a bit of trouble..."

Her voice trailed of a little and she paused a beat before saying, her voice shaking a little: "Some woman had Angelo kidnapped and she tried to burn him alive. We just got there in time."

"WHAT?" Angel's eyes nearly fell out of her head. "Oh my god, is he okay? I mean, obviously he's okay - physically okay, at least, oh my god...why?" It was the only thing she could think to say. Because burning Angelo alive, really?

"Because she was crazy?" Sooraya voiced bitterly. "I am still not sure about the whole story, but she thought for some reason that Angelo would destroy her and her people."

"Crazy. Right." Angel shook her head. "Jesus, seriously..." She ran a hand through her hair and snaked an arm around Sooraya's shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Are you okay?" She asked after a moment. "Up here, I mean." She tapped a finger against the side of Sooraya's head.

"No..." Was the immediate answer of Sooraya, but after that it was quiet for a bit. "I am feeling torn wanting to go after Aghanne somehow and not want to leave Angelo alone... But I think me clucking after him would only made him feel caged..." She paused for a moment. "After we got him back... on the plane... he hardly said a word.... I am really worried."

"Angelo will be okay," Angel said quietly. "He's...well, he's Angelo." He was Angelo who probably shouldn't be alone at the moment, but Angel would deal with that in a bit. "He'll be okay. And no revenge." It could have been a joke, except Angel was very serious. Revenge went bad far too often for it to even be considered.

"No revenge, Angel. I know that is not a good thing." Sooraya shook her head. "Just bringing in so she could face justice and not hurt anyone else again. She did not only try to hurt Angelo, but she also psionically influenced the children and many other people. They are all damaged because of her."

Okay, revenge was possibly justified. "She'll get what's coming to her," Angel said confidently. "Maybe not as soon as she deserves, but she will." At least, she would if there was any sense of justice in the world. "Crazy lady," she said after a moment. She didn't want to say too much more - wanted to give Sooraya a chance to finish her venting.

"I just want her safely locked away where she cannot hurt anyone else. She actually reminded me a little of Sayyid with her fanaticism and her psi-powers."

Angel frowned at the mention of Sayyid. "It's quite possible no one should ever leave the country ever again," she said after a moment, a small bit of dry humor slipping into her tone. She couldn't help herself. "Clearly bad things happen when any one of us steps foot outside of the American boarders."

"They say the third time is the charm. One time must be the charm for us, even if it's not the third." It was a not even a joke, but the barest ghost of a smile slid over her face. "Until then all we can do it keep trying, I think."

"It's like the field trip curse, 'cept on some astronomical level," Angel said thoughtfully. "The going-out-of-the-country curse, maybe? That doesn't roll off the tongue very well, huh? Anyways, all curses are meant to be broken."

"True. And at least the children are safe and are getting good care now. They will have the chance to heal. That is something good that came out of it." Sooraya explained. "I need to try to look at that as well."

"Right. For all the bad stuff that happens-" And clearly a lot had happened this time, "there's always something good, too. Can't let yourself get too down about it."

"I will." Sooraya sipped at the last bit of her chocolate and let out a deep sigh. "I kinda need to finish sorting out my laundry and unpack my other things before heading back to college tomorrow... but if you don't mind sitting on my bed or something, maybe we can chat a little more while I work?"

"I'm all yours," Angel said, draining the last of her own cocoa. "I can even help, if you want."

"You don't have to, but I won't say no to the offer..." Sooraya quickly stood up, gathering the mugs again and depositing them on the kitchenette before heading back to her backroom. "I warn you though... it can be a bit messy."

"Sooraya have you seen my room lately?" Was Angel's answer as she followed Sooraya into the bedroom. "Let's do this."


After talking to Sooraya, Angel goes to Angelo's with a mission.


Angel was perfectly, surprisingly calm as she knocked repeatedly on Angelo's door. "Anybody home?" She sang in time with the knocking, pretty much already knowing the answer to that question. She couldn't imagine Angelo was wandering too far from home at the moment.

It took a few minutes, and more insistent knocking, before Angelo opened the door, looking battered beyond just the physical. "Angel?"

"Hey." And without further ado, Angel stepped forward and gently pulled Angelo into a hug, careful not to upset any injuries she could - or couldn't - see.

He stiffened slightly, just for a moment, then slung out a strand of skin over her shoulder to push the door closed as he hugged her back. "Someone told you."

"Sooraya." Not point in hiding it, really. "She's worried about you. And, ya know, I am too." Angel pulled away to scrutinize Angelo's expression for a moment. "Doing the whole bottle-it-up thing isn't good. I hear it ages you, like, twenty years or something. You're too pretty to age that much."

"I can't", he said honestly, letting her meet his eyes and pretending he hadn't heard her call him pretty... or maybe he genuinely hadn't taken it in. "Not yet. I will."

Angel pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking. "Okay," she finally declared out loud. "I assume you own movies? Here's the plan - order something take-out like that's the epitome of unhealthy and will probably cause a heart attack before either of us hit forty and movie night. Or on the off-chance you don't own movies, I can totally go find one of those red box things and just rent ALL the movies." Because of course, leaving him alone for an extended amount of time just wasn't an option.

"...yeah, I own movies", Angelo said, a little bemused by Hurricane Angel but not exactly un-used to it, and gestured in the direction of the TV. "So does John. And Netflix."

"Fantastic," Angel clapped her hands together happily, putting on a smile. "Netflix? Sweet. We'll be good on movies then. Do you guys have take-out menus? What am I saying, you're guys, of course you do. Your place, your choice. What would you like to eat? I'll pay."

"If we have a menu for it, I'll eat it", he told her, wandering back to the couch and evidently accepting his fate. "You don't have to pay for it all, I know how much you energy power types eat."

"Freeze," Angel said at once. "I'll go find the menu and order, you get your butt over to the movies and pick one out. And 'Angel, I don't care what we watch, you pick,' is not an acceptable answer." He wasn't going to just accept his fate. He was going to enjoy himself even if it killed them both. She didn't comment on the money thing - no point. She was paying. They'd hash it out later.

"I let you pick, we'd be watching chick flicks all night", he said with the first spark of life since she'd arrived. "Deal."

Angel stuck her tongue out at Angelo as she wandered into the kitchen. "Exactly. Though I do have to question why you would own chick flicks. You and John cuddling on the couch at night watching The Notebook together?"

"Netflix", he said firmly, "has chick flicks along with everything else. Although Alejandra or Amara left a few behind, I think... anyway. No."

Angel was trying very hard not to giggle at the images her joke had brought to life. It was a losing battle, sadly. She coughed, covering a laugh, as she walked back into the living room, holding up the menu she'd chosen. "Chinese sound good? It was between Chinese and pizza, but I feel like Chinese will last longer. What do you think?"

"Chinese is always good", he agreed. "I like the beef and mushrooms. And prawn toast."

"Mmmm," Angel closed her eyes for a moment, grinning stupidly. "Okay, seriously hungry now. Beef, mushrooms, prawn toast. Anything else?" Her own order basically consisted of...well, a little bit of everything. But that was totally beside the point.

"Crackers", he decided. "Gotta have crackers. Other than that, I'm good."

"So true," Angel agreed, pulling out her cell and dialing the number on the menu.