Nathan, Paige and some death threats

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Paige leaves Angelo to do his catching up, offline and online, for a very nice, new punching bag. Nathan happens to walk by. He's kind enough to hold the punching bag. We see a little bit into Paige's head, the sort of thing she never says, and then they end up being somewhat cute by the end. I think we've finally figured it out; Paige's second mutation is an angst cancel cute replacement... thing.


Paige’s taped up hands ached, begged, pleaded at her to give up her masochistic tendencies and husk into something that would make the physical beating she was insisting on easier, but she would hear none of it. There were the beginnings of bruising on her arms and shins, but those could be easily taken care of later with a simple shrip. Besides, she wouldn’t have done her foul mood justice until this punching bag was begging for its sawdust filled life. Staying perfectly calm through the night had done nothing for her fantastic temper but putting it into a small compact ball that Paige needed to get rid of before she did something she might regret.

Nathan, passing by the gym on his way to the Danger Room, paused as he glanced in the doors and saw Paige attempting to murder the punching bag. "Paige," he said quietly as he came in, deciding that yes, it was worth chancing her obvious bad mood to talk to her.

“Hello Nathan,” Paige replied tonelessly. The punching bag was snickering at her again; it had to be dealt with. “How are you,” she paused to execute a well-planned kick to the bag, ducking away as it spun violently before adding, “Today?”

"Missing about seven hours of sleep. You?" He moved to hold the bag for her. A bit presumptuous, maybe, but she could beat the shit out of it a little more effectively if he did.

Offering him a quick nod in thanks, she resumed her attacks. Even when she was angry enough to torch several buildings Paige fought exactly by the book; precise, practiced movements. “About the same. Luckily, that’s not all that unusual.”

"Did he sleep at all last night?"

“Eventually,” Paige practically grunted, as an accent to her jab. She had no face to pin on the bag, but she had Angelo’s tears as fuel and that was just as good. “I’m all right at the girlfriend job occasionally.”

"That's good. That he slept." She kept hammering away at the bag and Nathan watched her, realizing that this was probably all the pent-up anger she hadn't let herself feel last night. Her thoughts washed against his shields like boiling water and he reinforced them stubbornly. "I'm not good enough with computers to be looking into the mechanics of what happened myself," he finally went on, slowly, "but the people who are, are aware of what needs doing."

Pausing, Paige let herself draw focus back in for a moment; stepping into the ready position Logan had taught her so long ago. Her breathing techniques had been well practiced, but her lungs still fought to keep up as she eyed the bag with a stony glare. “Good to hear. Thought I could trust you.”

"I've been trying to focus on the what, rather than the how," Nathan said, wondering if she was done with the bag. She didn't look done, so he didn't let it go. "But it doesn't make sense, Paige. Of the people who had the information - it was medical staff, who would never have breathed a word, and a handful of other people that would never have done that to him."

“That doesn’t make it much better,” Paige answered flatly. She wasn’t thinking properly, couldn’t pause to let herself function in the straight, logical lines she generally worked with. Right now she just wanted something bleeding at her feet and it disgusted her. Letting her eyes roll back she brought to mind a less vicious set of attacks and set herself on the punching bag once more, only half seeing.

"Whoever did this had to find out somehow. If we could figure out how, that's one step closer to putting a name and face to the heartless piece of shit," Nathan said, then blinked. Okay, inappropriate choice of words. True, and sincere, but inappropriate.

Paige barely faltered her set, merely hitting the bag with less force than she had intended. “Well, sir,” she answered, giving him a rare, dangerous smile. “Looks like I have a secret partner in revenge. I won’t tell.”

Nathan didn't respond, either to the smile or the suggestion. "He was doing so well," he said quietly, his eyes drifting away, towards the far well. "So well. Despite the summer'o'catastrophes and everything he has on his mind." He wasn't going to mention Jono, but he knew Paige would know what he meant. "And whoever did this is trying to drag him right back into the pit he's scratched and clawed his way back out of."

“That’s why whoever did this is going to pay.” There was a solid thump of her knee hitting the bag. “This wasn’t done by accident and it goes way beyond revenge. This was just pure, undiluted cruelty. And no one hurts mine, not that way, and gets away with it,” Paige said fiercely, only vaguely aware of what she was saying and who she was saying it to.

Nathan let her get it out without objections, protestations, or pleas for moderation. She wasn't in the mood to listen, it wasn't good for her to internalize all of this, and it wasn't as if they had a face or a name yet, in any case.

“How can people be this cruel?” Paige continued, her voice rising a little. “How can life be this cruel? Not for furthering or revenge or sins but just pure cruelty. Is this life’s way of getting back at me? Hurt those I love most? They certainly didn’t deserve it, this.” Her movements were shifting, not lazy but with an edge to them that wasn’t from any book. “I know I’m supposed to be the optimistic one, to let everyone know that it will be all right, that there’s a master plan we don’t see, but this. I don’t know how to deal with all this sometimes.”

"No, they don't deserve it," Nathan said quietly. And neither do you. "I wish I had an answer for you, Paige. The only thing I can say is that I don't think it's life... it's people that do these things." His eyes went a little distant as he held the bag for her. "Only human beings have the capacity for malice."

Paige froze, letting her eyes close against the sparkling of tears behind her eyes and her arms drop to her sides. “That’s just the problem, now isn’t it. These are the people I’m risking my life to try and save. I don’t want to think it, but I do. Right now, I really, really do.” She turned away, ripping the taping off her hands. “I’m done.”

Nathan released the bag finally, watching her. "It hurts even more to know that it came from inside the school, doesn't it?" he asked, his voice very low. "From someone who's been given the gift of being here, the chance to build something remarkable out of their life."

“This place is supposed to be about trust,” Paige replied quietly, agreeing. Crumpling up her tape she dropped it into the wastebasket, reaching up a hand to pull loose her hair. “Trust and safety. I feel neither.”

One more reason to throttle whoever did this... Nathan shook his head slowly, trying to wrestle back his own swelling anger. But again, there was no way to push it down and away like he was used to doing. No more handy compartmentalization. He wondered dimly whether Jack would believe him if he said he missed his conditioning sometimes.

"I'm sorry, Paige," he said, the words coming out only a little tight. He was still a good actor, he told himself, turning away as if he was checking on the stability of the bag after her protracted beating of it. "If I'd overheard anything, even a hint of anything, I would have put a stop to it before it got this far."

Paige looked over her shoulder at him, offering a tiny glimmer of a smile. “I know, sir. I know. And I’m sorry too.”

Before he turned around, he ran through one of the Askani's meditative patterns in his mind. It didn't work perfectly, but it took the edge off, dulled the roar down at least a little. "Tell him, if you would, that I'll stop by again a bit later?" he asked, trying to match the faint smile. "I have a weights exercise to do, or Moira will pout at me."

“And here I would think that would be extra incentive to not do you exercise. I’m sure she has a lovely puppy look,” Paige replied, surprised at how easily it came. “But I will, sir. Don’t hurt yourself.” She made to exit the room before turning in the doorway. “And... thank you. For not going all psychobabble on me. I swear, I’ll be better by tomorrow.”

"You're welcome," Nathan said with a trace of a smile, watching her go. "But if you're not, let me know. I'm more fun to hit than the bag."

Paige gave a little salute and a wink, turning around. Her voice carried back to him as she made her way down the hall. “You’d be much more fun to beat up, too. Make little squeaky noises when I hit you, I’d bet.”

"Manly yelps, Paige," he called out after her. "Manly yelps."