Romi

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Angelo was not under any illusions that his warning was going to fall on deaf ears. He really didn't think Shay would take it well, but even so he'd persisted. He'd waited until she was coming over anyway--so it seemed less like he'd lured her out just to beat her over the head with unsolicited advice--and then waited until it was almost time for her to leave before approaching her, the rest of the family out already gone.

"Shay," Angelo said, picking his words extremely carefully. "Could we talk about something? Something serious, but - uh, not about you and Fitz." She was probably expecting another one of those conversations, and it wasn't that.

 

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Honestly, Shay was tired, for all that she tried to maintain an upbeat persona. Winter was always hard on her body. She was coughing, regularly had to carry around a bloodied handkerchief with her and just, in general, felt achy and exhausted.

After some food and human interaction, a nap was sound like the best thing the world had to offer. That was when Angelo pulled her to the side for a talk.

Shay searched for all the things she could have done to upset him recently, but when he told her it had nothing to do with Fitz and her relationship, she was kind of at a loss.

Since the Spiderlings and other family duties, Shay didn't have the wild streak she might once have had. She had responsibilities and she took that shit seriously.

Giving her not-dad an incredulous look, Shay said, "shoot. Either I did something, or you've run out of people to ask in your time of need. What's up?"


 

Romi

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Angelo rolled his eyes at her comment, gesturing for her to sit as he grabbed a spot in the living room himself.

"First," Angelo said, "if I needed someone and thought you could help, you'd be the one to ask. Especially if it's reaper stuff--you're probably better than I am at that anyway." A safe assumption. He was only half, had no scythe, and basically knew almost nothing about it. He was too busy being a cop to be a full time reaper, and Shay had at least explored the concept.

"It's not about us, though. Do you know Charlie? The skeleton guy, teaches up at the school?" Maybe 'skeleton guy' wasn't the best description, considering he looked pretty human most of the time. Angelo'd just met him when he was a skeleton, and the impression had stuck.

 

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"Oh, drat, it's starting to look like the first," Shay went on as Angelo told her to sit. Her tone was playful, but that didn't hide the fact that she was at least half-serious.

She took a seat across from him, worried the comfy chair might be enough to have her dozing off. "Mhm," she answered sleepily as he explained that he'd be willing to go to her if he needed her expertise... on reaper things. Nice to know. Misguided, but a nice gesture anyway.

"Yeah. Charlie Rotmore. He's the teacher supervisor of my club." She paused and thought of saying something in line with her usual snarky comments. But her mind was slow, and she'd have much rather waited for Angelo to finish his thought on this particular subject.


 

Romi

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Angelo screamed internally. It was worse then he'd thought. He'd known Shay had some kind of familiarity with the man, but her club supervisor? He'd thought they just sort of have bumped into each other at school, and Angelo winced visibly at the thought.

"Listen, Shay," Angelo said. "I know I can't order you to do anything, so please don't think I'm trying to do that. But... you should stay away from him. He's dangerous. And not in a he could do things kind of way. In a I think he's going to do things kind of way." Angelo didn't know what he was going to do, but he didn't trust Charlie not to. His calm, unashamed admission of the truth had been just that: Too calm, too unashamed. Anyone else would have died before revealing that, and yet he'd coughed it up like it was nothing, caring only for how it might have affected the other world.

What kind of person could just tell people he had been about to destroy the world?

 

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Shay was awake then. She was maybe a little too focused on Angelo's reactions. It made her grimace about the same time he did.

Maybe – No, most definitely – Shay was being too sensitive. But why did it feel like all the adults in her life thought she was some kinda of idiot? Or that she didn't know these types of things already. Like she was some kind of fuck up. And again, Shay found herself thinking back to Vito and how very similar his mannerisms had been to her.

Shay supposed, so long as Angelo didn't tell her she'd end up dead, raped, and in a ditch somewhere she'd have more warmth for him than she'd had for Vito. But that didn't help any of her building resentment.

She leaned forward in her chair, letting that playful mask slip away. All the weariness her face bore had her looking older than eighteen. She probably looked about as tired as when Angelo had visited her back when she'd first began running the Rosales gang for that short time.

"Just," she sighed, "say what you mean, Angelo. You don't need to go dancing around the subject okay? It's not like I purposefully go against you just to get to you – not really anyway.

"And yeah, I know he's dangerous. We all do. He's a fuckin' Lich for Christ sake. And I did hear about his little meltdown around you. I don't think he's going to do a damn thing. He's too worried about what other people think of him, and besides, if he did, I'd kill him."

Shay leaned back, not bothering to hide how little the idea bothered her. "Shit. I'm not supposed to say that in front of you, am I? You're a cop."


 

Romi

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In terms of bad things to say to a cop, 'I'll just kill him' was pretty high on the list, and Angelo grimaced.

"Not every lich is intrinsically dangerous," Angelo pointed out. "Listen, I'm not trying to say that I think he's dangerous because he killed people before. I mean, I killed people before. I'm not going to casually judge people because they did things before Manta Carlos they regret. But... he's not like that. He..."

Angelo paused, clearly uncomfortable. He didn't like thinking about it. It was unnerving. Eerie. Charlie had just told him like it was nothing.

"I don't know how much you heard about his breakdown. Beyond that having a breakdown means you shouldn't be teaching at all, the stuff before the breakdown was even more alarming. Charlie isn't just a guy who killed some people in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he was currently killing people. He was going to wipe out all life on earth and didn't end up doing it because of random chance. He was prepared for that. He was ready. And he told me that without an ounce of guilt or regret. I feel bad about killing mafia members who were going to get killed anyway, and he's marching around with a zombie army of people he's murdered and looking a cop in the eyes and casually mentioning he almost committed genocide."

It was a lot. And Angelo was obviously agitated, his hands clenched into fists in his lap before he caught himself and forced him to relax them.

"I don't think he's a better person then he was. I think he's still the same person who'd commit genocide, and he's just playing along."

 

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Angelo seemed downright disturbed. Right, he was normal. Shay had forgotten that little detail. Charlie was a lich and a murderer. No, being a lich meant more than just being a murderer. It meant terrible things. It didn't seem out of the ordinary to Shay that Charlie wouldn't give a shit about all of that.

"Yeah, yeah, and not all Demons are assholes. Let's be honest with ourselves Angelo; the supernatural have those stereotypes for a reason. They're not like people."

As Angelo went on further to explain what he meant, hands clenching in what Shay assumed was rage. Oof. Shay was reminded of how human Angelo was. Her face softened some as she struggled to pull her mask back on.

"He's...." She breathed in slowly, trying to find the words. How much could she tell Angelo? And, could she tell him all her horrible things? Angelo was a good man despite his past crimes. The same couldn't be said of people like Klaus, Charlie, or her.

"He couldn't commit genocide. He's not strong enough. But yes, I don't think he feels bad either. No in the way a person would feel bad. He wants to be human again, but he gave that away, and his curse is that it'll stick with him forever."

She gave Angelo a wry smile. "I sometimes forget how human you are. You know I was dating a serial killer, right? I knew what he did. I didn't really care then; I don't really care now.

"And you know, I'd have killed those wolves at the New Years party. Not even in self-defense. I'd have done it afterward, even understanding their reasoning. I'd have killed them because how dare they. No regret. No hesitation. It wouldn't be out of necessity. It would just be because."

She met his eyes, something careful in her expression. "Do you think I'm a better person now, Angelo? We're all monsters here, Angelo. Just some of us are better at playing human."


 

Romi

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Angelo wasn't prepared. Not for Shay's confessions. Not for I dated a serial killer and knew it. Not for I'd have killed the wolves.

Especially not for just because.

Angelo was paler than usual, his lips pinched into a hard line as he listened. No, he wasn't prepared. It wasn't so easy to snap back a response. He knew that there were supernaturals on the island with completely different moral systems, ones that saw no issue with killing humans... but he hadn't expected Shay.

How had she gotten that way?

"No, I didn't know," Angelo said, choosing each word with careful precision. "I didn't know any of that. I... " What did one even say to that? How did you respond to I would kill people without even a reason?

"The wolves weren't like that," Angelo said. "They were good people, pushed into a corner. None of them should have had to die at all. Killing good people... killing any people isn't good. I just..."

Angelo was upset and struggling for words, trying to find the right thing to say. But no matter what, the revelation was a serious blow to his perception of Shay. Shay had always been damaged to him, someone who'd seen too much and was affected by it. Like he'd been, when he'd arrived on the island. Someone who hadn't batted an eye. But this was something else, something deeper.

"I just don't understand how you can say that." How could she? How could she say she'd kill people just because?

 

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"They were not good people," Shay said back fiercely. "Good and bad doesn't work that way, Angelo. Sure, most of us would have done the same to save our people, but that doesn't mean they didn't almost kill plenty of innocent people themselves. They put my baby cousins in danger. They nearly killed me with their bullshit. We all could have died, and some of us would have stayed that way. One of them threatened to rape Live.

"So, yes. I'd have killed them to get out. And I might have been willing to kill them after I was out, too, if the cops hadn't handled it. What makes it okay for them to get my baby cousins shot, but it's all okay because they had a reason? Horrible things have been done in the name of good reason all the time. That doesn't make them okay."

She huffed, pinched her nose and calmed herself down. She could see Angelo wasn't faring well with this news. In fact, he was looking about the second worst case scenario. With the worst being that he told her to get out of his house and never fucking return.

Shay looked to one of the pictures on the way. "You killed for money, you know. It's not like I'd kill anyone for anything. I've never harmed someone like that, but I know I could do it. Maybe it sounds monstrous to you, but if you really thought about it could you say you'd be any different?

"I can admit I'm not the standard of virtuous. But I'm also self-aware enough to know that the sins I commit will stick with me to my grave. No matter how to try to wash them away. The same is said of my good deeds."


 
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