Flashback 1
By mgangel1124
Angel groaned as she groped blindly for the alarm clock without removing her face from the pillow. Still unwilling to take a look, she settled for flipping the clock’s switch from “alarm” to “radio” and listened to the sound of the newscaster’s voice.
“Good morning, Orly! It’s seven AM here on the 12th of November-”
It was at that point that Angel bolted up into a sitting position and slammed her hand down on the clock’s off switch, now fully awake. “Shit, already?” she asked out loud. “How could today sneak up on me like that?” She got up and started getting ready for the day, already feeling the unavoidable depression setting in. Walking into the break area of headquarters for coffee, she saw a FAAABULOUS Frenchman and his pet android coming toward her.
“Angel, Tres needs to measure you for your uniform,” he informed her while said android remained silent behind him. "Ee am NOT letting you run around weez zose nightmare balloons popping out of your shirt while you’re on ze job."
“Will it take long? I kinda have something to do today. No, it doesn’t involve sleeping with anyone,” she countered before he could ask. “Today’s just an emo day for me. I need to go buy a razor blade and a Fallout Boy CD so I can get down to some real pussification,” she joked as Tres pulled out a measuring tape and wrapped it around her. After promising to be back in a few hours and turning down Hikki for the offer to talk about her problems she left the base and started walking to the cemetery.
She didn’t like thinking about it, but she made a point to force herself to every year as something of a penance. It was a way to keep herself in check by remembering why she’d joined the Syndicate, why she had to keep fighting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK TIME~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a normal day for eighteen-year-old Angel. She’d forgot her house keys again that morning and had to go to her father’s lab to borrow his. And of course, the idea of giving Matrix a quick grope on her way out was always appealing. The building was empty as usual as she made her way back to the workshop where she could hear voices. As she got closer, it sounded like they were arguing. Angel had just grabbed the doorknob when she heard the loud BANG and practically jumped out of her skin. She was still for a few moments, a little afraid to open the door. She tried to rationalize things in her head. Matrix and her father had always been friendly to each other, hell her father practically thought of him as the son he’d never had. Had Matrix told him about their relationship and he’d freaked out and thrown something? No, that couldn’t be it. They were both probably just excited over some new experiment, which had been what caused that noise. That had to be what happened. There was no other good explanation. Bracing herself, she turned the knob and looked in…
…And immediately wished she hadn’t. The first thing she took in was her father lying on the ground motionless, which definitely wasn’t a good sign. Matrix was standing over him and appeared to be holding something. Then she noticed all the blood, and gasped when she realized it was coming from the still man. Matrix heard her and turned around, giving her a view of what he was holding. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw he had a gun.
“Angel?” he sounded bewildered. “What are you…Oh shit, Angel I-” he took a step toward her and she panicked, sprinting down the hall to a random room. She slammed the office door shut and locked it, diving under the desk in utter terror. Taking a breath, she managed to reach up and find the phone to yank it down next to her. With shaking hands she dialed the number.
“Hello, this is the Orly emergency operator, how may I direct your call?”
Angel was speaking fast into the phone. “Please, we need help my dad needs help, he, he shot him, and there’s so much blood and oh god, please send somebody before he finds me and gets me too and fuck I think he killed him he needs an ambulance now and someone needs to catch him before he escapes, Jesus please just help me-”
“Alright honey, slow down. Where are you?”
Angel took a deep breath and tried not to collapse into tears yet. “We’re at Sarcasta Lab on the west side. My name is Angel Sarcasta and …” Angel stopped speaking when she heard footsteps and freaked out again. “Oh god he’s still here please send somebody quick I gotta go kay thanks bye.” She hung up the phone and stayed silent. The footsteps had stopped just outside the door. She heard the knob being jiggled and realized too late that it was a definite giveaway that she was there.
“Angel? Angel, I know you’re in there. Listen, I’m so sorry about this, you weren’t supposed to see any of that. Come on honey, let me in and we’ll talk about this. Please Angel? You know I’d never hurt you, just unlock the door. You have to let me explain, you know I love you-”
He was abruptly cut off by her scream of anguish. “YOU FUCKING LIAR! HOW DARE YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME!” Angel was curled up in a ball crying hysterically. “YOU SON OF A BITCH! I HATE YOU! I…I…” She finally broke down into intelligible sobs.
Matrix sighed. “Angel, I’m coming in. We need to talk.” She heard the click of his gun and it hit her how easily a bullet would go through that lock. Frantically she looked around for anything she could use to defend herself when she heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Sirens, and they were rapidly approaching. “Angel, I’m so sorry,” came from the other side of the door. A minute later, she heard another voice.
“Angel, are you in there? I’m Sergeant Gordon. It’s alright to come out now, he’s in custody.” Still shaking, she managed to stand up and unlock the door, coming face-to-face with a kind-looking middle-aged man. “If you’ll come with me, we have some questions for you.”
“What about my father? Is he-is he alright?”
Gordon shook his head sadly and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid it was too late. He’s gone.”
Angel slumped against the wall and slid down it into a sitting position. “Dad…” she whimpered before covering her face in her hands and breaking down into silent tears.
Gordon grabbed her arms and pulled her up. “Come on, we’ll get your statement later. Do you have someone you can stay with?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be alright at home. Can someone take me? I don’t think I can walk back. Oh…” she suddenly remembered her reason for being there. Looking over on the desk, she saw the keys sitting next to the empty space where the phone usually was. Walking over, she put the phone back and grabbed them. She handed the lab keys to Gordon, saying, “I guess you’ll need these.”
She went home and threw up before passing out on the couch. Questioning the next morning would always be a blur in her mind, with her only remembering the end when they informed her that her statement matched with Matrix’s and their findings. On her way out of the station, she saw him, and her heart broke again.
At home, she walked into her bedroom to change and realized how many memories of him she had in there. Beginning to feel bitter anger though the sadness, she started gathering it all on the bed. Clothes, pictures, notes, everything he’d left or given her. She even ripped the sheets off the bed and added them into the pile before dragging it downstairs and to the back yard. Finding a big metal trashcan and a few bottles of alcohol, she grabbed a lighter and started tossing things into the inferno. She briefly considered calling the nearest hospital and asking about a skin transplant. Finally, she was down to the octopus plushie and one last picture. At that moment, the doorbell rang and she hurled the last items into the flames and put out the fire. She opened the door to see an upset-looking Gordon. “He’s getting off,” he said simply.
“What!?”
“Governor Ozzal just called the station. She’s offering Matrix a job at Comdot as head of her research department. She’s pardoning him and we have to release him today.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been at that moment that she’d decided to fight back. She couldn’t let Ozzal continue ruining lives like that. Her feelings about Matrix were more confusing, especially now that she’d gotten her revenge on him. Looking around, she realized she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings and was almost at the graveyard. She stopped to buy some flowers before entering the cemetery and finding her father’s tombstone.
Angel put the flowers down and sighed. “Hey, Dad. It’s been awhile, huh. I’m sorry about everything. If I hadn’t fallen for him, maybe I would have noticed something was wrong. Hell, if I’d gotten there sooner you’d probably still be here. But I’m trying to make up for it. I’m gonna help change this country, we’re gonna bring Ozzal down and save this place. She won’t destroy any other families like ours. Neither will he, I got him too. You’ll see, we’ll bring Actonia back to the great country it was, and you and Mom’ll finally have something to be proud of me for. Speaking of that, I really need to get back to headquarters. I miss you Dad…I love you.” She wiped her eyes and walked off, hoping everything she’d said would come to pass.
Walking back, she passed a newsstand where a headline caught her eye. She stopped and picked it up, quickly reading the beginning of the article…
EX-COP FOUND GUILTY, EXECUTED
On Friday, retired Orly Police Seargent James Gordon was found guilty on charges of treason. After examining overwhelming evidence against his case, Head Governor Michelle Ozzal herself deemed the officer guilty and sentenced him to lethal injection the next day. After serving twenty-six years on the force…
Angel couldn't bring herself to read the rest. She knew it was all bullshit; she’d gotten to know Gordon after her father’s death. Although he too hated Ozzal and her corrupt system, he’d been a far too honest man to ever think of joining the resistance. He’d obviously become a thorn in her side and she’d disposed of him. I swear to god Ozzal, we’re going to bring you down, Angel thought to herself.
Feeling thoroughly bummed out, Angel stopped at a liquor store near headquarters. She slammed her money down on the counter and told the cashier to get her as much of the cheapest booze her cash would buy. She intended to lay in her room the rest of the day and drink herself to sleep. Carrying the bottles to her room, she passed a very down-looking Emiri in the hall and stopped. “Here,” she said, handing the girl a beer. “You look like you could use one.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, another man approached the grave of Henry Sarcasta. He set down a bouquet of strange, almost tentacle-like flowers and stared at the tombstone. “Well Professor, it seems like a lot of things are about to change.”
Angel groaned as she groped blindly for the alarm clock without removing her face from the pillow. Still unwilling to take a look, she settled for flipping the clock’s switch from “alarm” to “radio” and listened to the sound of the newscaster’s voice.
“Good morning, Orly! It’s seven AM here on the 12th of November-”
It was at that point that Angel bolted up into a sitting position and slammed her hand down on the clock’s off switch, now fully awake. “Shit, already?” she asked out loud. “How could today sneak up on me like that?” She got up and started getting ready for the day, already feeling the unavoidable depression setting in. Walking into the break area of headquarters for coffee, she saw a FAAABULOUS Frenchman and his pet android coming toward her.
“Angel, Tres needs to measure you for your uniform,” he informed her while said android remained silent behind him. "Ee am NOT letting you run around weez zose nightmare balloons popping out of your shirt while you’re on ze job."
“Will it take long? I kinda have something to do today. No, it doesn’t involve sleeping with anyone,” she countered before he could ask. “Today’s just an emo day for me. I need to go buy a razor blade and a Fallout Boy CD so I can get down to some real pussification,” she joked as Tres pulled out a measuring tape and wrapped it around her. After promising to be back in a few hours and turning down Hikki for the offer to talk about her problems she left the base and started walking to the cemetery.
She didn’t like thinking about it, but she made a point to force herself to every year as something of a penance. It was a way to keep herself in check by remembering why she’d joined the Syndicate, why she had to keep fighting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK TIME~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a normal day for eighteen-year-old Angel. She’d forgot her house keys again that morning and had to go to her father’s lab to borrow his. And of course, the idea of giving Matrix a quick grope on her way out was always appealing. The building was empty as usual as she made her way back to the workshop where she could hear voices. As she got closer, it sounded like they were arguing. Angel had just grabbed the doorknob when she heard the loud BANG and practically jumped out of her skin. She was still for a few moments, a little afraid to open the door. She tried to rationalize things in her head. Matrix and her father had always been friendly to each other, hell her father practically thought of him as the son he’d never had. Had Matrix told him about their relationship and he’d freaked out and thrown something? No, that couldn’t be it. They were both probably just excited over some new experiment, which had been what caused that noise. That had to be what happened. There was no other good explanation. Bracing herself, she turned the knob and looked in…
…And immediately wished she hadn’t. The first thing she took in was her father lying on the ground motionless, which definitely wasn’t a good sign. Matrix was standing over him and appeared to be holding something. Then she noticed all the blood, and gasped when she realized it was coming from the still man. Matrix heard her and turned around, giving her a view of what he was holding. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw he had a gun.
“Angel?” he sounded bewildered. “What are you…Oh shit, Angel I-” he took a step toward her and she panicked, sprinting down the hall to a random room. She slammed the office door shut and locked it, diving under the desk in utter terror. Taking a breath, she managed to reach up and find the phone to yank it down next to her. With shaking hands she dialed the number.
“Hello, this is the Orly emergency operator, how may I direct your call?”
Angel was speaking fast into the phone. “Please, we need help my dad needs help, he, he shot him, and there’s so much blood and oh god, please send somebody before he finds me and gets me too and fuck I think he killed him he needs an ambulance now and someone needs to catch him before he escapes, Jesus please just help me-”
“Alright honey, slow down. Where are you?”
Angel took a deep breath and tried not to collapse into tears yet. “We’re at Sarcasta Lab on the west side. My name is Angel Sarcasta and …” Angel stopped speaking when she heard footsteps and freaked out again. “Oh god he’s still here please send somebody quick I gotta go kay thanks bye.” She hung up the phone and stayed silent. The footsteps had stopped just outside the door. She heard the knob being jiggled and realized too late that it was a definite giveaway that she was there.
“Angel? Angel, I know you’re in there. Listen, I’m so sorry about this, you weren’t supposed to see any of that. Come on honey, let me in and we’ll talk about this. Please Angel? You know I’d never hurt you, just unlock the door. You have to let me explain, you know I love you-”
He was abruptly cut off by her scream of anguish. “YOU FUCKING LIAR! HOW DARE YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME!” Angel was curled up in a ball crying hysterically. “YOU SON OF A BITCH! I HATE YOU! I…I…” She finally broke down into intelligible sobs.
Matrix sighed. “Angel, I’m coming in. We need to talk.” She heard the click of his gun and it hit her how easily a bullet would go through that lock. Frantically she looked around for anything she could use to defend herself when she heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Sirens, and they were rapidly approaching. “Angel, I’m so sorry,” came from the other side of the door. A minute later, she heard another voice.
“Angel, are you in there? I’m Sergeant Gordon. It’s alright to come out now, he’s in custody.” Still shaking, she managed to stand up and unlock the door, coming face-to-face with a kind-looking middle-aged man. “If you’ll come with me, we have some questions for you.”
“What about my father? Is he-is he alright?”
Gordon shook his head sadly and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid it was too late. He’s gone.”
Angel slumped against the wall and slid down it into a sitting position. “Dad…” she whimpered before covering her face in her hands and breaking down into silent tears.
Gordon grabbed her arms and pulled her up. “Come on, we’ll get your statement later. Do you have someone you can stay with?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be alright at home. Can someone take me? I don’t think I can walk back. Oh…” she suddenly remembered her reason for being there. Looking over on the desk, she saw the keys sitting next to the empty space where the phone usually was. Walking over, she put the phone back and grabbed them. She handed the lab keys to Gordon, saying, “I guess you’ll need these.”
She went home and threw up before passing out on the couch. Questioning the next morning would always be a blur in her mind, with her only remembering the end when they informed her that her statement matched with Matrix’s and their findings. On her way out of the station, she saw him, and her heart broke again.
At home, she walked into her bedroom to change and realized how many memories of him she had in there. Beginning to feel bitter anger though the sadness, she started gathering it all on the bed. Clothes, pictures, notes, everything he’d left or given her. She even ripped the sheets off the bed and added them into the pile before dragging it downstairs and to the back yard. Finding a big metal trashcan and a few bottles of alcohol, she grabbed a lighter and started tossing things into the inferno. She briefly considered calling the nearest hospital and asking about a skin transplant. Finally, she was down to the octopus plushie and one last picture. At that moment, the doorbell rang and she hurled the last items into the flames and put out the fire. She opened the door to see an upset-looking Gordon. “He’s getting off,” he said simply.
“What!?”
“Governor Ozzal just called the station. She’s offering Matrix a job at Comdot as head of her research department. She’s pardoning him and we have to release him today.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been at that moment that she’d decided to fight back. She couldn’t let Ozzal continue ruining lives like that. Her feelings about Matrix were more confusing, especially now that she’d gotten her revenge on him. Looking around, she realized she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings and was almost at the graveyard. She stopped to buy some flowers before entering the cemetery and finding her father’s tombstone.
Angel put the flowers down and sighed. “Hey, Dad. It’s been awhile, huh. I’m sorry about everything. If I hadn’t fallen for him, maybe I would have noticed something was wrong. Hell, if I’d gotten there sooner you’d probably still be here. But I’m trying to make up for it. I’m gonna help change this country, we’re gonna bring Ozzal down and save this place. She won’t destroy any other families like ours. Neither will he, I got him too. You’ll see, we’ll bring Actonia back to the great country it was, and you and Mom’ll finally have something to be proud of me for. Speaking of that, I really need to get back to headquarters. I miss you Dad…I love you.” She wiped her eyes and walked off, hoping everything she’d said would come to pass.
Walking back, she passed a newsstand where a headline caught her eye. She stopped and picked it up, quickly reading the beginning of the article…
EX-COP FOUND GUILTY, EXECUTED
On Friday, retired Orly Police Seargent James Gordon was found guilty on charges of treason. After examining overwhelming evidence against his case, Head Governor Michelle Ozzal herself deemed the officer guilty and sentenced him to lethal injection the next day. After serving twenty-six years on the force…
Angel couldn't bring herself to read the rest. She knew it was all bullshit; she’d gotten to know Gordon after her father’s death. Although he too hated Ozzal and her corrupt system, he’d been a far too honest man to ever think of joining the resistance. He’d obviously become a thorn in her side and she’d disposed of him. I swear to god Ozzal, we’re going to bring you down, Angel thought to herself.
Feeling thoroughly bummed out, Angel stopped at a liquor store near headquarters. She slammed her money down on the counter and told the cashier to get her as much of the cheapest booze her cash would buy. She intended to lay in her room the rest of the day and drink herself to sleep. Carrying the bottles to her room, she passed a very down-looking Emiri in the hall and stopped. “Here,” she said, handing the girl a beer. “You look like you could use one.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, another man approached the grave of Henry Sarcasta. He set down a bouquet of strange, almost tentacle-like flowers and stared at the tombstone. “Well Professor, it seems like a lot of things are about to change.”