Angelo, Amanda - Monday night

[xp_daytripper]

Continuing the Nate Gets Shot Saga, Angelo comes down the the medlab to find Amanda already there. He realises she couldn't have healed Nate without outside help, and is Rather Displeased, especially when he finds out where it came from. Set an hour or two after this log.




At some point in time someone had dragged a couple of semi-comfortable chairs down to the medlab waiting room, and Amanda was curled in one of these, her eyes not leaving the door of the cubicle designated as Nate's. He was still sleeping, as was to be expected after such massive blood loss, and she wanted to be there the moment he woke up. Well, after Moira and Dom and the rest of them, of course. She chewed absently on her thumbnail, trying to ignore the siren call of the orb she'd locked in her desk upstairs for safekeeping.

Angelo burst into the medlab at a run, having only just managed to get away since he heard what had happened. Seeing her there, he skidded to a stop and asked, "How's he doin'?"

"Still out, but he'll be all right. I done me healin' thing," she said, looking up at him with relief plain in her face. She looked tired, but nowhere near as exhausted as a major healing spell should have left her. "Just waitin' for him t' wake up so I can see him."

Angelo nodded, his own relief showing through clearly - then frowned, her words sinking in. "You healed him? Not that that's a bad thing in any way, but... Amanda, last week you couldn't completely heal a stab wound, an' now you can fix him when he's been shot more than once?"

"Not all the way, just enough t' get him out of danger, start things healin' faster on their own," she said defensively. Under Angelo's worried look, however, she couldn't keep up the evasiveness. "I had somethin' t' recharge with, give me the power t' do what I needed," she admitted, unconsciously chewing at her thumbnail again.

Angelo's frown deepened. "Where'd you get it?" he asked simply.

She winced. "Patches," she muttered, dropping her eyes to the floor.

Angelo stared at her, not wanting to believe he'd heard right. "You did what? After what he did?"

"Well, it ain't like I can go t' the bloody mall an' pick up occult artefacts ten for a dollar!" she retorted. "I needed a source, an' Patches is the only contact I got who can get hold of stuff in a hurry. If I'd had any other choice..." She glanced over at Nate's door again and lowered her voice. "I didn't want to, but Nate needed it."

Angelo sighed, accepting that part of it. "Tell me you at least took someone with you?"

She bit her lip. "Not exactly..."

That got him pacing, trying not to rant. "What do you mean, not exactly?"

"I got Clarice t' 'port me there, but there was no way in hell I was exposin' her t' a sleazebag like Patches, so I went in on me own an' got her t' pick me up when I was done." Amanda gave him an half-exasperated look. "I can look after meself, y'know."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you should, not that way. We've talked about this", Angelo retorted, trying to keep a lid on his own exasperation.

"I know, I just... It all happened so fast, I didn't think t' ask anyone else t' come along. An' I didn't want t' drag you into my shite again, not after last time." She looked down at the floor again. "Patches is a lightweight compared t' Rack, but he's still a devious prick an' I didn't want you t' get hurt."

"An' what if he hadn't been alone? What if he'd made another deal you didn't know about? What if he'd brought some of... his people along? Anythin' could've happened..."

"Well it didn't! I got what I needed, got t' toss him around a bit, an' got back safe 'n sound. 'Sides, Patches is a businessman, first an' foremost. If word got 'round he was double-crossin' his clients, he'd be out of work soon enough." Amanda's tone turned obstinate. "It turned out fine."

"Yeah, it did, but you didn't know that. Yeah, he's a businessman, which is why if Rack's people paid him big for you, he wouldn't've turned it down." He sighed. "Look. I understand why you did it, an' you had the right idea, long as you're gonna stick with the amulet. But it was a fuckin' stupid thing to go an' do alone."

Another retort hovered on the tip of her tongue, but it died under the weight of concern in Angelo's voice. "Yer right," she said at last, shoulders drooping. "It was dumb, an' I should've taken someone with me. I just didn't want anyone else gettin' hurt on my account, see? Me, I don't matter so much, but I'm buggered if I'm gunna get you fucked over again 'cause of me."

Angelo nodded. "I get that. I do. But... well, here's a hypothetical for you. Somethin' goes wrong, an' Clarice has no way of knowin'. So she opens up a portal to pick you up, but someone else comes through. Maybe they want 'Yana, 'cause she's been in the demon dimension, or Alex, to sell him back to that bitch that had him, or one of the others, for some reason. People get hurt. Just sayin'... if you need to do this again, take backup."

"Yer forgettin' this place has security out its arsehole, includin' the protection spell I put back on last week, but I get what yer mean. I s'pose I wasn't thinkin' straight, worryin'..." Her eyes flicked back to the door. "I hate all this waitin'."

Angelo nodded. "That makes two of us." He hesitated, before saying quietly, "You have to tell Strange you've got this... whatever it is. You know that, right? An' if you don't, I'm e-mailin' him myself, this is important."

She nodded reluctantly. "He's so gunna kick me arse for dealin' with Patches again," she said. "But I'll tell him." A small, smug smile crossed her face. "You should've seen Patches' face when I dropped him in this pile of rubbish. It was priceless."

Angelo laughed, dropping into the empty chair beside her. "Now I really wish you'd taken me along."

"Next time," she promised, then grinned as his face darkened. "Just jokin' - there won't be a next time, an' I told him that. Just after I dropped him in the rubbish again. Little weasel didn't think I was serious."

Angelo nodded. "Good. Not gonna make you promise that, though - but if somethin' like this comes up again, just promise me you'll take someone who can watch your back. Doesn't even have to be me, but promise."

"I promise," she said solemnly. "No more rushin' off on me own." She sighed and started chewing on her nails again. "I really hate waitin'," she repeated.

Angelo sighed. "Right there with you. They say anythin' about how long it should be?"

"Nah. Just that he'd lost a lot of blood an' it was gunna take time for him t' come out of the shock, even with me helpin'." She frowned, trying very hard to not let her lips tremble. "I told him before he left that if anythin' happened I'd get Dom t' help me put him in a plastic bubble for his own safety," she said, trying to make light, but her voice wobbled slightly and she pulled her knees up to curl into a ball. "I probably jinxed him or somethin', sayin' that."

Angelo frowned, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. "Hey. Whatever the hell happened over there, it doesn't sound like anyone could've seen it comin'. Nothin' about this is your fault."

With a sigh that came close to sounding like a whimper, she leaned over to lay her head on his shoulder. "I know it ain't, 's just I was jokin' 'bout it an' then somethin' does happen, an' he could've been killed. An' six months ago I wouldn't have given a tinker's toss, but now... Now I think about losin' him, or you, or Manuel or Beth, an' it tears me up inside an' I don't know how t' deal with it. Everythin' was so fuckin' easier when I didn't care."

He shrugged. "I wasn't out on my own as long as you, so I can't say... but it doesn't seem to me like easier means better. It'd be easier for me, in some ways, to cut out on my own again. But not right."

She made an assenting noise. "Not right," she repeated. "An' easier ain't always better, or so Rom told me. 'M just tired of worryin', is all. Should've picked a less catastrophe-prone bunch of friends t' care about." She closed her eyes, still resting her head on Angelo's shoulder. "Just so tired," she repeated drowsily.

Angelo put an arm around her instinctively. "So sleep. I'll wake you when somethin' changes."