|
|
Post by angel on Jan 29, 2007 2:57:51 GMT -5
Rubbing the towel through his hair, Warren picked up another shirt to throw into his overnight bag, since he wasn't planning on wearing leather day and night on this mission.
He still hadn't called Paige. He'd read the letter twice before his shower and once afterward, and he still hadn't called her. She was (supposed to be) his best friend. It hurt more than he cared to admit that she'd just taken off and only left a note, not even told him she was thinking about leaving.
"You've got mail!" said his computer, far too cheerily for his liking. Though there was a small hope that it might be Paige emailing him to explain, Warren didn't know if that would be enough either, and he went to the computer expecting it to be spam.
It was, but he had a couple of other emails that he needed to clear out too. The one from Forge about this Sombra business, and another one from Sam...
Yeah. A beer would be good. Or just a... I'm worried too. He didn't bother to reply, instead just hanging the towel over his desk chair and shoving the letter into his pocket. Without even bothering to tidy up his bed, Warren was out the door and wandering down the hall, determined to find Sam even if he had to look in every room in the whole mansion.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cannonball on Jan 30, 2007 15:10:16 GMT -5
He found Sam on the running machine in the gymnasium, pounding the ground for everything he was worth, a grim look of sheer determination on his face. His hair was damp with sweat and clung to his face and he was staring straight ahead. In his ears were headphones; he was evidently listening to the iPod that was in the holder attached to the running machine.
There was no indication that he'd seen Warren enter, but the man must have had eyes in the back of his head, because a few seconds later he punched the slow-down on the treadmill and dropped to a fast walk. He pulled the headphones out of his ears and, still walking, reached for his towel, wiping his face.
"Hey, Warren," he said, his tone even. "I must've hit the right button on that email thingy then, unless ya actually wanted to find me for some other reason."
The fast walk slowed further.
"Guess I ain't gonna even try beatin' round the bush," he said. "Ya know anythin' about why my li'l sister has upped-sticks an' left?"
|
|
|
|
Post by angel on Feb 1, 2007 1:47:58 GMT -5
"Hey, Warren," he said, his tone even. "I must've hit the right button on that email thingy then, unless ya actually wanted to find me for some other reason."
That got a smile out of him, but Warren just waited to see what else Sam had to say rather than pretending that this was just a normal conversation.
"Guess I ain't gonna even try beatin' round the bush," he said. "Ya know anythin' about why my li'l sister has upped-sticks an' left?"
Shaking his head, Angel said, "Absolutely no idea, Sam. I was hoping you'd know more, I just had a letter in my door when I got up this morning, didn't even know she'd been thinking about it."
He looked around, found a weights bench and sat down. "I haven't seen her since last night, since the premiere and everything went haywire. I could only think that something happened when she and Bobby were on their way home, because as far as I know she was fine... happy... before then."
Again, the blond man shook his head. "Makes me wish I hadn't stuck around with Alison, but she'd just had her big moment ruined..." More than a little guilt was twisting his gut into knots, but what was he supposed to have done? Bobby and Paige were perfectly capable of looking after themselves, and they'd had training to help them deal with situations like last night.
"Maybe Bobby'll know more. My note didn't say much, just that she'd messed up her plans and was going home."
|
|
|
|
Post by Cannonball on Feb 3, 2007 10:00:03 GMT -5
"Maybe Bobby'll know more. My note didn't say much, just that she'd messed up her plans and was going home."
"That so?" Sam studied Warren thoughtfully as though trying to establish whether he was being fed a line or not. "Fair enough, my note sorta said more or less the same. Only guess she'd been on the phone to Mama, 'cos apparently she's expected back home."
He set down the towel and stared at the back of his hands for a while. "I figured that she was copin' with the Bobby situation. Guess that shows how much I know, huh?" He sighed heavily and his whole posture visibly sagged. Then he held his head up straight and squared his shoulders.
"Ya gotta understand, Warren, Paige ain't just like a sister to me. I guess I sorta took on the 'dad' role in the house when Poppa died. House full of li'l kids needed someone to look up to. Ya understand, right, that this ain't just brotherly concern. It's fatherly concern. I tell ya this for nothin'. I'm gonna be takin' the next plane down to Kentucky an' I'm gonna find out what's the matter with my sister. An' if I have to come back here an' break any heads - I will. Are y'all with me here?"
|
|
|
|
Post by angel on Feb 4, 2007 2:22:22 GMT -5
"I figured that she was copin' with the Bobby situation. Guess that shows how much I know, huh?"
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it, I thought she was doing alright with all that too." Warren looked slightly ashamed at the fact that he was wrong.
"Ya gotta understand, Warren, Paige ain't just like a sister to me. I guess I sorta took on the 'dad' role in the house when Poppa died. House full of li'l kids needed someone to look up to. Ya understand, right, that this ain't just brotherly concern. It's fatherly concern. I tell ya this for nothin'. I'm gonna be takin' the next plane down to Kentucky an' I'm gonna find out what's the matter with my sister. An' if I have to come back here an' break any heads - I will. Are y'all with me here?"
"I was going to fly down myself, but I've got a thing with the X-Men that I have to take care of first. Suppose I should call and see if she even wants to see me..." Taking a deep breath, the man known as Angel shook his head and tried to collect his thoughts.
"Yeah, Sam, I'm with you. I really... I don't know what's going on. And it kinda hurts that she didn't keep me in the loop, Paige is my best friend in the whole world and... Well. I just would have thought that she'd mention something like the fact that she was thinking of leaving, you know?" He truly did look upset about it, not to mention slightly bewildered. Because as far as he knew, everything had been going just fine, Paige had been happy. He wanted her to be happy, wanted nothing more than to keep that smile on her face... But somewhere along the line everything had turned all fucked up and Warren didn't know how he was supposed to fix it all. Because he didn't know what had gone wrong.
Maybe he was just so self absorbed that he hadn't noticed. But no, that didn't seem right. It was just her... well, being a girl, Warren was sure. They never talked straight, never told you the truth when they were upset, and then got pissed when you went along assuming that they were fine.
He didn't want Paige to leave forever. But he didn't know how he was supposed to get her back to New York when she clearly had wanted to leave.
"I might go ask Bobby what he knows. He warned me about the letter, in the X-Men meeting... Maybe I should have asked for someone else to have gone. Fuck, I don't know Sam. I just hope nothing major has happened, it kills me to think of Paige so upset that she had to leave."
He looked as miserable as he sounded.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cannonball on Feb 7, 2007 12:59:08 GMT -5
"I might go ask Bobby what he knows. He warned me about the letter, in the X-Men meeting... Maybe I should have asked for someone else to have gone. Fuck, I don't know Sam. I just hope nothing major has happened, it kills me to think of Paige so upset that she had to leave."
Sam's face remained stony and impassive as Warren spoke, but by the end he'd clearly softened slightly towards the other man. "Well, I'd sure appreciate ya lettin' me know if ya get anythin' outta Bobby. I'm gon' sort myself out a plane down home. I COULD get there quicker, but with the mood I'm in right now, I'd probably overshoot by a state and a half."
He attempted a grin. It came out as a grimace.
"Damn," he said, softly, staring up at the ceiling. "There ain't nothin' I hate in this whole darned world as much as thinkin' I've done failed my family. I've been so caught up in my own selfish problems that I didn't think none to check up on her."
He looked back at Warren. "I got one of them cellphone things, if I give ya the number, we can keep in touch with one another. But right now, I think I gotta go find my baby girl an' figure this thing out."
He patted Warren awkwardly on the shoulder.
"It's good t'know that she's got a friend, though, Warren," he said. "Thank ya."
|
|
|
|
Post by angel on Feb 11, 2007 20:08:20 GMT -5
"Well, I'd sure appreciate ya lettin' me know if ya get anythin' outta Bobby. I'm gon' sort myself out a plane down home. I COULD get there quicker, but with the mood I'm in right now, I'd probably overshoot by a state and a half."
Warren's attempt at a grin didn't fare much better than Sam's. He let the other man talk for a while, not sure what to say, not sure how to comfort him. "It's not..." Waving one hand, Warren trailed off awkwardly.
"I got one of them cellphone things, if I give ya the number, we can keep in touch with one another. But right now, I think I gotta go find my baby girl an' figure this thing out."
The winged man nodded mutely as Sam patted his shoulder and thanked him for... well, Warren didn't exactly know what. Being Paige's friend? Even though he had no idea why the girl had gone and it made him feel like he was doing a really shitty job of it?
"Yeah, you keep in touch too." Taking out his own cellphone, Warren programmed in Sam's number and sent his own over as a sort of electronic business card. He knew, as he held the phone in his hand, that he should call Paige. But he slipped it back into his pocket for the moment, hearing the letter crunch as it was shoved down, and pushed himself up off the bench. He paused at the door of the gym to look back at Sam for just a moment, still looking confused and helpless and a little hurt.
"I'll... yeah, keep in touch."
[Exit Warren]
|
|
