xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan (Reply)

Nathan, on his way to break rocks in the quarry, happens across Angelo trying to de-stress by the lake. Things do not go well.

Having used up his immediate supply of cigarettes - he had more in his room, but he didn't want to go through his entire supply - Angelo had headed down to the lake, hoping - a little desperately - that the peace and quiet there would help take his mind off where the hell Sarah was and what was going on. So he sat on the jetty, idly dangling his bare feet in the water and trying not to think.

The lesson with Manuel had gone better than he had any right to expect, Nathan knew, but zen level hadn't lasted very long once the headache from the shield-testing had kicked in, and the last lingering remnants of that so-enjoyable calm had vanished utterly as soon as he'd gotten another look at the journals. He had gone down to the medlab to spend a while with Pete, but Madelyn had shooed him back out after about an hour. So it was either bother Moira in the lab, or go break rocks in the quarry.

But he had deliberately taken the long way, to maximize the amount of fresh air he was getting, and so came close enough to the lake to spot Angelo sitting at the end of the dock, fairly radiating grim and worried thoughts. Nathan gritted his teeth, all of the annoyance at having seen Angelo's passive-aggressive backpedaling coming surging back. Before he quite knew what he was doing, he reached out with his telekinesis and flung Angelo off the dock and into the water.

Angelo, no great swimmer, flailed in shock in the water, sputtering, and managed to tread water long enough to get over to the side of the dock and cling, peering around to see what had caused it. Spotting Nathan approaching, he started to understand, watching him warily.

"So," Nathan called, his expression hardening as he hobbled over. "How's the water?"

"Cold", Angelo answered flatly. "An' did you know I can't really swim?"

"Here's the thing. It's just as easy to pull you out as it was to push you in," Nathan grated, telekinetically hauling Angelo up out of the water by the scruff of the neck and dropping him, if more gently than he could have, back on the dock. "Want me to demonstrate again? I've found that in my experience, cold water is a wonderful remedy for stupidity."

"Rather you didn't", Angelo answered, wringing water out of his T-shirt. "An' anyway, the stupid bit's passed. That first comment was just on instinct - never said it was rational."

"Here we go again," Nathan growled, reaching the edge of the dock. It swayed a little as he stepped out onto it, and he told himself to be careful. Would be awkward if the cane slipped between the boards. "Do you ever get tired of saying or doing something you shouldn't and then abasing yourself like an idiot afterwards?"

"I was not abasin' myself", Angelo retorted. "Just lettin' people know they shouldn't worry about me disappearin'."

"Bullshit!" Nathan snarled, looming without even thinking about it. "Absolute fucking bullshit! You were falling all over yourself apologizing in the most fucking passive-aggressive manner I think I've ever seen you use, and that's saying a lot!"

"When did I apologize, Nathan? Except to Paige, that doesn't count. There was me bein' stupid, an' then me bein' less stupid."

"Making excuses, then," Nathan barked. "'Oh, forgive me, I wasn't rational.' 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just concerned about my friend, and jumping head-first into everything is the way I'm used to responding to trouble'." He took a limping step closer to Angelo, seething. "How long have you been living here, boy? How many times have you seen the staff at this school respond to crises like the trained, responsible adults they are? How the fuck could you think, for a second, that Jono or you or anyone else running off to help her could be a GOOD IDEA! ARE YOU THAT SLOW?"

Angelo looked at him, lost for words for a moment. "You tellin' me you've never done anythin' dumb on instinct, Nathan? An' maybe I am slow sometimes, but I thought better of it, an' before I made any real move to act on it. So what you gonna do?"

"And there's the last-ditch tactic," Nathan hissed, red creeping in at the edges of his vision. "Make it about me. Turn it right around, deflect it..." His hand lashed out, catching Angelo's shirt. "You had better not have known anything about this beforehand," he growled, the unfocused anger suddenly sharpening.

Angelo faced up to him squarely. "Sarah might've sent out an e-mail. But she did *not* say she was gonna try it alone, or I'd've been over there draggin' her back here before she could blink. So come on, then. You wanna fight, you're projectin' all over the place. Come on, Nathan."

Nathan blinked, his eyes widening as he 'heard' what Angelo was projecting, saw the memory-flash of the email - and all of its recipients - and Angelo's own response. "You irresponsible little shit," he said, absolutely floored. "You stupid, stupid little fuck... all of you... " His hand clenched around Angelo's shirt almost spasmodically. "There are people going out after her, people who could get killed as easily as she could, and any of you could have STOPPED THIS A WEEK AGO?"

"Back then, it was Sarah's business. I never thought she'd be dumb enough to go in there without Shinobi to watch her back. If I'd thought she was out to get herself killed that bad, yeah, I'd've said somethin'. But I didn't - an' you know now I wasn't the only one. But why go takin' it out on them when you got me right here? Come on, Nathan, do what we both know you want to, see if you can manage what the LAPD couldn't. Change my instincts."

Nathan let him go with a push, staring stonily at him as he stumbled, sitting down hard on the dock. "There are going to be consequences for this, Angelo," he said coldly. "And you and the others had better pray that no one dies as a result of this... lunacy, or you are going to bear a very significant share of the responsibility." With that, he turned and hobbled away.