The X-Project

Marie wants to be sure that Angelo remembers his promise to her.

Another day of working late, another day when Angelo didn't leave the boathouse until it was already dark, Rachel long since put to bed. It was an easy thing to do, with such a short walk between the office and home, and had become routine... but tonight, he noticed on the way up the path, there was someone waiting. He paused, squinting through the dark to see who was there.

Marie pulled nervously at her gloves as she stood on the pathway from the boathouse to the mansion. She had been waiting for awhile, unsure of when Angelo would be getting off work, but anxious to catch him and speak to him alone. Smiling weakly at him as he approached, she said “Hey Skin, up for a little stroll?”

He looked at her a little worriedly - if she'd just wanted a friendly catch-up, she could have come to find him at any point during the day, but nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

Keeping her pace slow, Marie headed to walk around the lake. "So Ah haven't had a chance to tell you much of what happened when Ah went home. Ah…Ah got a lot of news, but the biggest thing was that Ah ran into a precognitive and got my hands on one of her diaries."

He followed her, matching her pace. "You... so I'm guessin' this precognitive wasn't just some random who never saw anythin' to do with you."

“Some random…” she trailed off, her tone bitter. “No she wasn’t random at all. She dropped me off at the house in Mississippi for D’Ancatos to care for me when Ah was a baby and then got me to come back to give me that stupid diary.” Her voice didn’t waver as she spoke, though it was just as difficult for her to tell someone as it had been the first time. “And one of the things in the diary…well, it didn’t say Marie on it, but Ah sure as heck don’t know who else it coulda been about.”

He couldn't see her face very well in the dark, but the tone of her voice was clear enough. "What did it say, Marie?" he asked gently.

The words were etched in her mind for eternity and she would always be able to recite them easily. “The one who can take all will face temptation. Her choice will determine whether one dies or all perish by her touch.” She stopped walking and bit her lip before continuing to speak. “And Ah had to know if you remember.”

Angelo stopped dead. Nearly two years ago, now, but that conversation wasn't one he'd ever forget. "I made you a promise, once. Is that what you mean?" But he knew it was.

She nodded and hope filled her eyes. “Ah need to know that you still will…that you’ll still do that for me if the time comes.”

Angelo swallowed, looking down at the path, but, slowly, he nodded. "I don't forget the promises that matter, Em. An' when I can, I keep them. But you've gotta be sure, like I told you then."

“Ah am.” She reached up and forced him to look her in the eyes. “Ah am sure. Better to die than do that. If Ah start killin’ my friends, than Ah’m not me anymore and you need to make sure Ah stop.” She swallowed hard, but kept her gaze firmly locked with Angelo’s.

This time, he didn't look away. "Then I'll promise it again, Em. If it gets that far, if you start hurtin' people an' it's not by accident, an' there's really no way to bring you back... then I'll see to it." He didn't bring up the possibility that she wouldn't want to be brought back to know what she'd done. But he wouldn't ignore it, if she did.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. “There won’t be a way to bring me back from that.” She began to shake slightly but kept the tears from falling. “And if there was…what would Ah be coming back to?”

He reached out to her, seeing her shake. "To people that'd help you, Marie. You know they would... if you could be brought back. But... I knew the first time you were serious about this. So. You've got my word."

She leaned into his hug, feeling safe as he wrapped his arms around her. “Ah don’t know that Ah could face them,” she said, her words muffled as she spoke into his shoulder. She turned her head so that her next words would be clear. “An’ just like last time, Ah promise that this is what Ah want, that Ah’m sure.”

"Okay then", he said, almost on a sigh but with no doubt in his voice. "You told anyone else about this?"

She nestled closer to him and shook her head. “No. Ah don’t think anyone else would understand. They’d promise it to me but not do it. You will. Ah know you will.”

"If it comes right down to that... yeah." He looked down at her, unflinching now. "I will."

Her body relaxed and the tears she hadn’t even realized were falling stopped. “Thank you,” she said, the word coming out with a sigh of relief. She had worried that he wouldn’t remember, or that if he did he would have changed his mind.

He tilted her head up to make her look at him, face serious. "One thing though. You've got my promise for this... but you've gotta promise me that you won't just... resign yourself to it. You know how unreliable precog visions can be."

It was her turn not to look away. “Ah promise. Ah just…Ah just want to make sure it can’t happen. Ah’m not saying Ah’m gonna let it…Ah just don’t know if Ah’ll be strong enough to face whatever might be coming.”

"Whatever it is, Marie, you've got me at your back. Me an' everybody else in this house. If you're not strong enough, that's when you fall back on us. I'll kill you if I have to... but I'd rather help stop it comin' to that."

“Ah know. You’re a good friend, y’know that?” She rested her head against his chest. “Trust me, this is a promise Ah hope you never have to fufill…Ah…Ah don’t want to die, not anymore. But Ah’d rather die than have it come to me killin’ those Ah care about.”

"An' that I get, trust me. But trust us to try an' help you before it gets to the last thing any of us can do."

“Ok,” she agreed. “Ah trust you to make the right decision. Ah know you’ll do what’s right.”

"I'll do the best I can," he promised.

Marie nodded, satisfied that things would be taken care of should the need arise. “Ah can’t ask for more than that,” she said. Linking her arm with Angelo, she starting walking again, not wanting to return to the mansion quite yet.