xp_logs | Angelo and Bobby

The day of the FoH attack on Disneyland, Angelo goes to keep Bobby company.

Bobby sat at his computer, staring at it but not really seeing it. He hated how much just seeing the words, the name of the organization, could shake him. He'd managed to pretty much avoid hearing anything about them...until this happened.

Angelo quite literally ran from his room to Bobby's suite as soon as he received the e-mail saying Bobby wanted company. Arriving at the door, he knocked, trying not to appear overly worried and failing miserably.

Bobby got up and answered the door, offering Angelo a weak smile. "Hey." Turning from the door, he moved back to the desk, pressing the power button on the monitor and then walking over to sink onto the bed, head in his hands. "I hate this," he whispered.

Angelo walked over to sit on the computer chair, keeping his distance for the moment until he could judge the situation, not even trying to hide his concern anymore. "Anythin' I can do to help, man?"

Bobby shook his head, and then looked up at Angelo, his expression angry--at himself. "Nothing anyone can do but me." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have waited this long to talk to someone. I knew it wasn't going away--any of it. I just...kept hoping. That I wouldn't have to deal with it, you know? That it'd just...fade." The anger slowly bled from his face as he talked, leaving only guilt and despair.

Angelo watched Bobby intently, not liking the expression in his friend's eyes. "Think most of us have been there", he said softly. "But you know what you've gotta do now, right?"

"Yeah. I'm working on it," Bobby replied, nodding in acknowledgement. "I just wish I hadn't waited, now. I--don't like feeling like this." Understatement, there.

Angelo nodded back. "Right there with you. If you ever wanna talk about it with anyone who's not a therapist, you know I'm always around, right?"

"I know. Thanks, man." Bobby managed a weak smile, before pulling his legs up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged. "It's good to know," he added quietly, staring at the floor.

Angelo looked over at him, worried. "Hey. That includes right now, if you want. Or not."

Bobby took a deep breath. "Really, I'm okay right now. You know, so long as I don't read about them, or hear, or think..." He rolled his eyes, tucking his hands beneath his knees. "I just--I am working on getting better, you know? I've been seeing Samson...why did this have to happen now?"

Angelo shrugged sadly. "Would've happened sooner or later, man. Too much to hope for that we'd never hear of them again. An' better now than a month ago, or two months, right?"

Bobby had to nod in agreement at that. "But it would have been better a month from now, two," he replied with a small rueful smile. "At least, I fucking hope so."

Angelo grinned wryly. "Fate's got a fuckin' weird sense of humor", he commented quietly. "But now you just got even more incentive to work on it, as if you needed it..."

"Yeah. Look at the positive, right?" Bobby answered flatly, shifting to hug himself as a shiver ran through him. "I'm trying."

Angelo nodded. "I know. An' I know how much it's not easy."

"But what else can I do, right?" Bobby whispered. "I just gotta get through this, somehow, and work hard with Samson, and...fix it."

"An' you will", Angelo assured him. "Nothin's gonna happen overnight, I'm sure you know that already, but you will get there."

"Yeah. I know." Bobby groaned and stretched out on his bed, lying on his back. "Okay, I gotta stop thinking about this...s'making me feel sick again."

Angelo nodded. "Okay, man. This may be a stupid question, but when did you last sleep?"

Bobby shrugged, glancing over at him. "I dunno...night before last. So...35, 36 hours ago? I've done longer cramming for tests..."

"That's not the point", Angelo told him, still worried. He hesitated, before adding, "Listen... I've still got some of that stuff Samson gave me, to let you sleep deep enough to not dream. He told me not to use it too much, but once couldn't hurt, if you wanted some... Or did he give you some too?"

"Oh. Yeah, I think I have some." Bobby waved his hand vaguely at the small amount of clutter on his desk. "I haven't tried 'em yet. Do they really work?"

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, they do. Just once in a while, when you need to sleep the night through an' you don't think you will... an' it seems to me like you need a good long sleep right now."

"As long as I don't dream, sleep sounds...good," Bobby admitted, sitting partway up to scan his desk for the pills.

Angelo half-grinned. "That's what they're for. I can stick around as long as you want, though, if you wanted to wait a bit. 's up to you."

Bobby thought for a minute, then shook his head, sitting up and then standing, grabbing a sample card of the sleeping pills as he finally spots them. "I love your company and all, but no offense...I think oblivion sounds kinda appealing right now," he said apologetically.

Angelo nodded. "Fair enough. Your call, completely - an' I did bring up the idea", he added lightly.

"Good point." Bobby smiled a bit and popped one of the pills out of the blister pack, grabbing a nearby glass of (rather warm) water and chilling it without thinking about it, before swallowing the pill. "How long does it take to hit you?" he asked, taking the water back to the bed as he sat down again, sipping at it.

Angelo shrugged. "Varies, I guess. Body weight an' stuff. Can't be sure how long it'll take for you."

"Yeah, good point." Bobby drained the water glass and set it down, propping his chin on his fists, elbows resting on his knees. "I guess we wait. You wanna stick around till it hits me? You don't have to..."

Angelo looked uncertain. "I will if you want me to. Came here to keep you company, after all, might as well stay 'til you don't need it anymore."

"Plus, you can laugh at me when I start swaying drunkenly," Bobby pointed out, managing a small grin.

Angelo tried to look innocent. "Would I do that? Maybe best lie down, just in case."

"And spoil your fun?" But Bobby did as Angelo suggested, sighing deeply as he stretched out on the bed again. He looked over at his friend and murmured. "Thanks. For everything. You--I don't know what I'd have done without you, in the last few months." He rolled his eyes and added, "Not to sound girly, or anything."

Angelo smiled. "Anytime. An' I mean that. Just... keep goin to Samson, an' you'll be okay."

"I will." Bobby let his eyes drift closed, as his head started to fill slowly with a nice, blanketing fog. "Mmm...think it's starting to work," he mumbled.

Angelo nodded, not moving yet. "That's good. God knows you've needed a decent sleep. Haven't you?"

"Probably," Bobby admitted drowsily, cracking one eye open to look at him. "Although I'm still not challenging any of the all-time insomniac records around this place--those not needing sleep excluded, even." His body was relaxing, becoming heavy, and he smiled, because it was a rather pleasant sensation.

Angelo, realizing Bobby was falling asleep, smiled back. "Nah, probably not. But that's not a record you really wanna try too hard to break."

"Yeah...Paige'd be pissed," Bobby replied with a grin, his words slightly slurred. "I think it's either her or Kitty in the lead right now..."

Angelo chuckled. "Think Marie's in the runnin', too. I've been slippin' a bit on that score. Or doin' better, dependin' on your viewpoint."

There was no response, as the drugged sleep finally claimed Bobby completely, his breathing slow and regular.

Angelo, who had been watching Bobby carefully, waiting for this, got up from the computer chair and pulled the bedcovers over his friend as best he could without disturbing him, before slipping quietly out of the room.