xp_logs | Angelo and Scott, Thursday evening

Angelo's outside running, Scott goes to bring him back in while the grounds are locked down. On the way back to the mansion, they talk about recent events.

Angelo was doing his best not to think about Nathan, the medlab, or anything related, pounding along one of the running trails with the puppy at his heels. He had started to get out of breath some time ago, but wasn't willing to stop just yet, pushing himself to keep moving.

Moving through the woods, Scott spotted Angelo finally and sighing, hurrying to intercept him. He really ought to have made a journal post telling the kids to stay indoors, he told himself with a sigh. But he'd been trying to avoid causing any kind of a panic, so he'd relied on some of the other teachers to keep an eye and make sure no one went wandering. Apparently Angelo had slipped through, though.

"Angelo," he called. "Hold on."

Angelo heard the voice and slowed down but didn't stop entirely, turning as best he could to see who it was, upon which he did stop to wait. "What's up?"

"Need you to go back inside," Scott said with a sigh, reaching him. The puppy yipped and bounced, and Scott leaned down to pet her. "I understand the need to get some air, but we need you all to stay inside for now."

Angelo frowned in confusion that quickly changed to something else, as he realized there was only one thing the faculty could be worried about coming from outside. "You think they'll come for him", he said flatly, not making it a question.

Scott's jaw tightened a little. "I think it's a possibility," he said quietly. "Come on, I'll walk you back."

Angelo bent down to scoop up the puppy, not arguing. "Yeah, it was probably time I took a break from the runnin' anyway." Straightening up, he followed Scott as he started back to the house.

Scott glanced sideways at him as they headed back to the house, then focused on their surroundings. "You should find someone to wait with, if you can't find something to do to distract yourself back inside," he advised after a moment, surprising himself. Giving out personal advice to a student?

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I will. Times like this, I'm normally in the gym, by myself or with Sarah, but... not right now."

Scott couldn't help a faint smile, remembering the post he'd seen from Sarah. People could always surprise you. "I can understand why." He gave the young man a more somber look. "You okay? After seeing all of that this afternoon..."

Angelo shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance, holding the puppy close to him as she wriggled, for comfort as much as anything. "I'm okay. He's back, an' he'll be okay too now. Nobody else got hurt bad. 's all good."

"The Professor's going to do everything he can," Scott said with a nod.

Angelo returned the nod. "Yeah. An' Nathan broke the conditionin' once, without even gettin' any help. He can do it again, for good an' all this time hopefully."

The eternal optimism of youth was never going to cease to amaze him, Scott thought, and then shook his head wryly at his own train of thought. He was hardly an old man. He just felt like it sometimes. "He does have help this time," Scott agreed quietly.

Angelo didn't respond to that, just following Scott in silence for the time being. At that moment, he was very glad Scott wasn't a telepath, because he wasn't quite managing to silence the little treacherous voice asking, "Is it goin' to be enough, though?"

Scott may not have been a telepath, but he was very good at reading body language. "I'm sorry," Scott said finally. "This is a lot to deal with, on top of Asgard."

Angelo shrugged miserably. "It... yeah. We just got back, an' then suddenly Nathan's gone an' he's not himself anymore... an' what if the Professor can't get him all the way back?" he finished quietly.

Scott was silent for a moment. "Then we do what we can for him," he said finally. "Try and remind him of who he was. Like you said, he broke his conditioning once on his own."

"But... you said we're not allowed in there 'cause he might be dangerous", Angelo objected. "Me an' Amanda, Rahne, all the others. How long will that be for, if the Professor can't bring him back?"

"I'm not sure, Angelo," Scott admitted. To be honest, he didn't want to think too hard about what might be required in that situation. "But this isn't the first time we've had to help someone who's... lost their grip on themselves, for whatever reason."

Angelo ducked his head, acknowledging that. "But what about when their grip on themselves was taken away?" he muttered almost inaudibly. He hadn't forgotten Kwannon, but that had been something of a different situation.

Scott hesitated, then reached out and laid a hand on Angelo's arm. "It's okay to be angry, you know," he said abruptly, realizing what was lurking beneath the surface here.

Angelo suppressed his first reaction to flinch away, letting Scott's hand stay where it was. "Does no good, though. Not like I could do anythin' to the ones that deserve it, even if they did show up here."

"Doesn't mean that you should try and pretend you're not feeling it," Scott said as they exited the woods and moved towards the house. "Usually winds up costing you more in the end if you do that."

Angelo looked at him rather forlornly, but trying to hide it. "Everyone's upset. I'll hit the gym when I feel more like bein' in the basement. The punchbags usually help."

"Why are you avoiding the basement?"

"Medlab", he answered simply. "I can't go in, can't go visit him, an' bein' down there just makes it harder t'get away from that. From what's happened... Maybe in a couple of days..."

"Just so long as you don't take up punching the furniture because the bags aren't available," Scott said, managing a brief smile.

Angelo smiled fleetingly in return. "Nah, I wouldn't do that. Worst case, Sarah an' me can spar outside for once."