xp_logs | Angelo and Domino

He goes to see her after she visits Amanda. They talk about what happened at the HFC and what can and can't be done in the aftermath. Both are angry and snippy.

Having seen Domino arrive from a window earlier that morning, Angelo made his way to the guest room she usually stayed in around noon. He'd wanted to give her time to see Amanda first, guessing that was why she'd come, and so had spent some time in the gym with the punchbags. Several hours, in fact. He'd forgone the gloves and tape in his anger, so his hands were now bandaged - he'd done it himself, since he could and he didn't want to bother the medstaff with something so insignificant. There was a little blood on his left hand, where he'd hit once too often in the same spot and broken the skin. Mindful of his bruises, he tapped at the door with the fingertips of his right hand.

Domino heard the knock and debating whether or not to answer it. Pete or Nate would have come right in after knocking, and Moira would have announced herself. Those were really the only three people she particularly wanted to see.

But the knock came again, and she sighed as she sorted through the contents of her duffel bag. "Come in," she called.

He opened the door cautiously and came in, offering a faint smile that faded after a few seconds. "Hey, Dom."

"Angelo," she greeted him curtly, pulling out a shirt and shaking it a little harder than it really needed to be shaken. Damned wrinkles. Her eyes flickered to his hands as she went over to lay the shirt across the back of a chair. "And what have you been doing?"

"Punchbags", he answered simply. "Only substitute for a certain someone I'm gonna get. Might've pushed it a bit far."

Domino was suddenly and inexplicably irritated. "Maybe you should print off a picture of Manuel's father's face and pin it to the bag," she suggested sweetly. "Add some verisimilitude."

He glanced at her a little warily, picking up on the irritation. "Might do. Don't think I'll be hittin' anythin' for a day or two now, though."

Her fingers brushed across the empty X-ray-proof compartment in her bag. Lee had taken her gun, as usual. For some reason, that made her considerably more pissy than it usually did. "Oh, but it's not really pointless masochism unless you keep it up until your hands look like raw meat," Domino chirped.

He grinned a little wryly, not denying the pointless masochism. "'d wear myself out before I got that far. Thick skin." He paused then asked, "How's she doin' this mornin'? I was goin' to go up, but I saw you get here, an' I figured you'd be straight up there."

"How well could she possibly be doing, Angelo?" Domino asked restlessly, her mind flinching away from whole portions of her conversation with Amanda.

He nodded sadly. "Wasn't suggestin' she was doin' well. I'll go by myself soon. Not sure I want her to see my hands like this, but there's no way I'm leavin' her by herself all day."

"Good of you," Domino said tightly, continuing to unpack. Not that she'd brought much, knowing that she wouldn't be here for more than a day or two. "I'm sure it's good for her to have someone who doesn't leave."

Angelo winced, remembering various conversations he and Amanda had had on that subject, especially the one after Beth's announcement. "She's my little sister", he answered finally, voice a little tense. "Every way that matters, she is. An' she an' I have a promise. Neither of us leaves until the other either does too or says we can an' means it."

"You shouldn't make promises like that," Domino muttered. "After all, you might decide you can't hack this place in the end, too."

"She made it first", Angelo said quietly. "An' in a way that binds her more than any promise I could make. She swore to me on her name she wouldn't leave. After that... I owe it to her to give her the same. I've needed to get out of here for a day or two before, an' I probably will again. But I won't leave for good without her say-so."

"Oh, good," Domino said, straightening and glaring at him. "So she's stuck with it, while she has to rely on your willingness to keep your half of the bargain. Charming. What is it with her and putting herself at a disadvantage when it comes to the men in her life."

"I didn't ask her to make the promise", Angelo said defensively. "It was of her own free will, to help me in a crisis of my own. So I returned the favor, an' I do not break my promises, once they're made, if I have any say in it." Not wanting to risk sounding resentful, he didn't add that he could have been on the Guthrie farm with Paige, but that Amanda had needed him.

"Right," Domino said and went back to unpacking. "Of course you don't."

"Have I given you any reason not to believe that, Domino?" he demanded, trying not to get angry. "Me, personally, not anyone else you might've known. I know how Amanda feels about people leavin', 'cause I'm the same way an' cause she's told me. If I had a way to bind myself to the promise the way her name does her, I'd take it in a heartbeat."

"But you don't," Domino said, taking out her laptop and turning to set it on the desk. "It's easy enough to say, when you don't. Words are nice, but basically meaningless in the end."

He looked at her helplessly. "What more d'you want me to do? I didn't make her promise on her name, an' it's done now - she's stuck with it, like you said. An' if my promise isn't enough..."

"You can't do anything more," Domino said with a twisted little smile. "Just pointing out a few things."

Angelo nodded quietly, then said sincerely, "I love her, Dom, I've told her that. Like a sister, like family. I'm doin' the best I can here."

"We all do the best we can," Domino snapped at him, growing increasingly tired of the earnestness. "Doesn't seem to ever do her much good, does it?"

He didn't flinch, but there was pain and anger in his eyes and voice when he answered, "No, it doesn't. An' I hate it. The demon, the Hellfire Club, fuckin' constant crises that no one can do anythin' about before it's too late, mostly 'cause there's no way to see 'em comin' - or if they could, like Jubilee could have, they don't. But I'm not goin' anywhere. If the best I can do is help pick up the pieces, then that's what I'll do."

Pick up the pieces. Domino tried not to grind her teeth as she turned away again. "Then don't let me discourage you from doing the best you can do," she said, her voice full of false cheer.

Angelo glanced at her sharply, hearing the false cheerfulness. "If there was anythin' else I could see, I'd do it", he said, voice low.

"Well, doesn't life just suck. We all want to do more but can't." Why had she let Pete and Nate stop her from killing Manuel's father, anyway? It wasn't as if she couldn't do it untraceably. "Welcome to adulthood, Angelo."

He snorted in bitter amusement. "Guess I'd better go do what little I can now, then."

"Don't let me stop you," Domino shot back over her shoulder, wishing that he would go away and take his guilt and sense of futility with him. She had her own to deal with.

He paused for a moment, then turned and walked out without saying goodbye, heading for the stairs and Amanda's room.