xp_logs | Angelo, Domino and a somewhat out-of-it Nathan (Reply)

Angelo goes to see how Nathan's doing, Domino cries on his shoulder a bit, then he promises to watch over Nathan to get her to sleep.

As soon as he was aware that Nathan was available to talk to, Angelo headed up to the third floor to look for him - both to check he was okay and, hopefully, get his version of what had happened.

Domino heard the tentative knock on the door and looked up from the screen of the laptop, where she was scanning through an email from GW. "Come in," she called softly, smiling wearily as she saw that it was Angelo. "Hey."

Angelo smiled back, faintly. "Hey. How's he doin'?"

"You want the honest response, or the one he'd prefer I'd give you?" Domino murmured, keeping her voice low, but not really caring if Nathan was awake enough in the bedroom to hear her. She didn't need to play along with his 'I'm fine' act.

Angelo followed suit, keeping his voice quiet. "Honest response."

"He looks like he got hit by a truck," Domino said quietly as Angelo came over and sat beside her on the couch. "He got the shit both beaten and scared out of him."

Angelo scowled, having expected as much. "His old bosses?" he asked in a low voice.

Well, that answered the question of how much Angelo knew about Nathan's background pretty handily. "Yeah," Domino said briefly. "His old bosses, playing very, very dirty."

The scowl deepened. "Don't think I need t'guess what they wanted. How'd Amanda an' Manuel get caught up in it?"

"Amanda got caught in the crossfire. I don't quite understand what happened to Manuel." Domino looked over her shoulder, her eyes sharpening as she heard movement from the bedroom. "Goddammit, Nate, go to bed!" she called more loudly. "Do I need to come in there and kick your ass?"

Angelo glanced in that direction, but chose to keep quiet - Nathan'd probably know he was out there anyway, but it was worth a try, and maybe if he thought no one new had arrived, he'd listen to Domino.

There was the sound of running water, barely audible through the closed door. A minute passed until it opened, and Nathan blinked dully at Angelo and Domino. "Don't need to go to bed," he muttered, holding on very obviously to the doorframe. "Arabic stuff to mark..."

Angelo looked at him hard, taking in the visible bandages and bruises. "You're not in any state for markin'", he pointed out. "Listen t'Domino."

Nathan took an unsteady step forward, his unfocused eyes moving in the direction of the desk. "Can't sleep," he rasped, his voice sounding broken and raw. "See them... I need to do something else."

Angelo moved to intercept him as best he could, eyes worried. "Nathan. Do you really think markin's a good idea? If only 'cause you'd have t'do it over again, when you're better..."

"Let him be, Angelo," Domino said softly. She hadn't moved from the couch, but sat there watching him, her eyes very alert.

Nathan moved around Angelo slowly, making his unsteady way over to the desk. He lowered himself into the chair with his good hand and stared blankly at the folders and books in front of him.

Angelo shot Domino a look, obviously reluctant, but finally retreated to join her on the couch, keeping a watchful eye on Nathan.

"Marking," Nathan muttered after a long moment, in that ragged voice. "Teachers mark. Not f-fun, but they do it." He made a noise that might have been a laugh. "D-Don't get students killed..."

Domino's jaw clenched hard and she blinked rapidly. "You didn't get anyone killed."

"Did." Nathan didn't turn to look at her, but his broken voice was almost desolate now. "Forty of them. Forty-four? Keep...c-changing the count..."

Angelo opened his mouth to say something, then realized Nathan meant the people who'd died at the college - this didn't sound like something he ought to be talking about right now, so he kept his silence.

"Nathan, go to bed." Domino was having a very hard time keeping the tears out of her eyes. Fuck, how she hated seeing him like this. "Take a couple of the pills Moira left you."

Angelo nodded quietly. "She's right. There's stuff you can take so you won't dream, if that's the problem. You know that as well as I do."

Nathan picked up one of the folders, clasping it to his chest with his good hand, and then rose, shuffling back in the direction of the bedroom. "Ought to dream," he whispered hoarsely, not looking at either of them as he passed. "Shouldn't forget." The bedroom door closed behind him, and Domino, closing the laptop and setting it aside, embarassed herself by bursting into quiet tears.

Angelo glanced over at her, faintly shocked - he'd never thought of Domino as the crying kind, but then these were extreme circumstances - and reached out to her tentatively, careful of her remaining injuries.

"I can't handle this," she said in a soft wail, clinging to him unashamedly, not sparing a moment to think about how she'd be kicking herself for this tomorrow. But the emotional 'hangover' from her own nasty experiences of last weekend was combining with the stress of all this and delivering quite a wallop. "Damn them to hell, the fucking bastards... he's never going to forgive himself for this, and it was their fault, not his..."

Angelo let her cling - this was familiar territory, from various occasions with Marie and others - without complaint. "Did he actually do anythin' bad? Or is it just that he "let" it happen?"

Domino sniffled, reminding herself about security and What Was Appropriate to tell the students. Pull yourself together, woman... "Just tried to have a fucking afternoon out with Amanda," she said bitterly, her voice breaking. "You know, he was going to take her to see the Lippizaners? Those special horses from Austria... there was a touring group in New York this week..."

Angelo managed a faint and short-lived smile. "Oh, she would've loved that..."

"They've never done anything like this before," Domino said hoarsely. "His bosses, I mean, not the horses..." She straightened, wiping her eyes angrily. "How was he supposed to know? All these years, all this secrecy... why the fuck does he think he should have expected them to come after him in the middle of New York City like that?"

Angelo shrugged helplessly, a little puzzled by that himself - so much could have gone wrong, the cops unwittingly getting involved, anything.

Domino took a deep, shaky breath, pressing the heels of her hands to her forehead. "Supposed to be looking after him," she muttered. "Not falling apart myself. But I didn't sleep last night..."

Angelo shot her a look. "Can't do him much good if you're ready t'drop yourself", he pointed out softly.

"Thought Moira was going to cry on me when she left today," she said heavily. "She didn't want to go..."

"I'll spell you for awhile if you need it", Angelo offered. "So you can get some sleep, at least."

"Would you?" She swallowed, rubbing her eyes. "Even just an hour or so..." She gave him a weak smile. "I don't think he's going to be too much of a handful. You saw him. Not moving too well."

Angelo nodded. "'Course I will. Long as you need or want t'sleep."

Domino rose, wincing a little as stiff muscles protested. "If you hear him coughing, get me right away," she said tiredly, moving towards the door. Just an hour or so. She didn't need much sleep under the best of circumstances. "His virus flared up last night... one of the sons of bitches was an antipsi, scrambled his TK but good."

Angelo winced, and met her eyes honestly. "It's a promise."

"Good," Domino said. "Thanks. Don't let me sleep too long." She wandered out without another word, thinking longingly about bed, even with the worry still tearing at her.