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Post by Amy81 on Oct 24, 2006 13:33:51 GMT -6
... He was crying now: "I made it back. Made it back. Please don't take it away from me..."
Amy studied him. It was unnerving to watch him coming apart like this, and it was almost pathetic to her, not at all the way she thought taking him down would feel. At this point, to tell him she was the redhead's daughter, and his daughter, born from his violence... it would finish him, she realized. And he looked so pathetic there, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"So, you're sorry?" she concluded questioningly.
He nodded, his head still down.
"For what you did, or for what it's going to cost you?"
He glanced up at her, eyes full of tears, but said nothing. It was more than pathetic to Amy now. This terror of a man, who'd done horrible things to her and other innocent women, now looked frail, old and weak.
"Pull yourself together" Amy said. "You can keep your fracking job...."
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 24, 2006 16:34:20 GMT -6
"You can keep your fracking job." She could actually see the relief spread over him as she told him this. It was everything to him, she realized. She put her hands together, bringing them to her chin. She nibbled on her thumbnail for a moment. "This is how it's going to be."
He looked at her, ready to do anything. "Okay" he said.
"Whatever raise you got to be chief, I want you to take it, and oh, say another 10% of your salary, and donate it each secton."
"Donate it?" he asked.
Amy nodded. "To the crisis center for victims of abuse. To breast cancer research. And to the orphanage." She paused, thinking. "Oh, and I want you to start a clinic, to teach women and children how to avoid the things that you did. Think you can do all that?" She knew it wasn't even close to making up for what he'd done, but she was making it up as she went now, and she knew she could always add more later if she needed to. And to give up his raise, and actually take a cut in pay after such a big promotion, would in a some small way make him suffer a little for a long time.
For his part, Ange was heartbroken for the wages he was going to give up. It was going to be part of his total rebirth, spreading some cash, running with the ladies, a real somebody again. But now, he'd be happy just getting out of the room being able to keep his job. He nodded. "I can do that. I will do that."
"I should be spacing you out an airlock" Amy admitted.
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 24, 2006 16:41:02 GMT -6
"I've changed" Ange insisted. "I'll make you proud, Amy."
"Please" Amy said. "I'll never feel pride for you. You're pathetic, weak, and I can't believe in a million yahrens I admired you and hung on your every word when I was younger. You know I nearly thought of you as a fa..." Her voice broke and she couldn't go any further, her eyes watery now. "Just get the frack out of here" she managed to say. "And stay away from me. From Abby, Brie, everybody."
Ange continued to nod, confused as to why Amy had mentioned Brie. But the thought passed, and he got up to leave.
"Ange?" she asked as he placed a hand on the door handle. He turned and looked at her. She could see it now, he had the same eyes as her. And though his hair was grayer now, she remembered how it looked in the vision of the past the demon had shown her: they had the same hair too. He was her father. Her Dad.
"Just go" she said, her face twisting up to cry as he left and the door swung shut....
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 24, 2006 16:55:17 GMT -6
Abby was in the process of lighting a third fumerette when she glanced up in time to see Ange walking past. She noticed that he was coming from the corridor where Amy's room was.
How did that daggit get through?
"Hey" she called out, poking her head down the hallway. Ange stopped as if frozen in place, then he slowly turned to look at her.
"It was you, wasn't it?" he asked, trying to make sense of it all.
"What was me?" she asked in reply. "What are you doing here? If you've done anything to upset that girl..."
"Upset her?" he asked as if he couldn't believe his ears. "You should have thought of that before you talked to her. My lord, I was concerned, Abby. The poor kid lost her baby. And I walked right into a... a buzzsaw in there. You must be proud, real proud of yourself."
"What the frack are you talking about?" she asked. She noticed for the first time his red eyes. Had he been crying?
"Oh don't even start." He held up a hand as she began to say more. "Don't start" he repeated. He turned and walked away, leaving Abby standing there with her mouth hanging open.
She leaned out the door, watching him go, then turned the other way, staring down the hall toward Amy's room. What is going on, she wondered....
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 25, 2006 12:22:57 GMT -6
The door to Amy's room opened again, revealing the nurse once more. "How are you doing?" the nurse asked. She walked up to the bed, checking Amy's pulse, and then her blood pressure.
"What do you think?" Amy replied with a question of her own.
"Well, your pulse is strong, blood pressure normal..."
"Not what I meant" Amy said, taking back her arm.
"Where's your visitor?" the nurse asked. "Gone already?"
"Yeah. You can send in Charybdis if you want."
"Who?" the nurse asked.
"The Colonel? He was waiting, I think."
"Gee, I went back out there, oh around reply #25, but I don't think he noticed I came back to see if he'd wait."
"It doesn't matter. I could use the rest."
"Okay, sweetheart. If he comes back or anyone else comes by, I'll let you know." The nurse patted her hand, then turned to go.
Amy kept her eyes shut, and knew she was alone as the door clicked shut...
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 25, 2006 16:40:26 GMT -6
Abby opened the door quietly, noticing Amy's eyes were closed as she lay on the bed slightly curled onto her side. Abby stood there a moment, biting her lip to keep it from quivering.
Memories flooded Abby as she tiptoed closer to the bed. Amy was an adult now, but Abby could still see the child in the woman lying there. The little girl who captured the hearts of so many on the Agroship that nearly every farmer there called her their own. Yet it was Abby who'd failed to capture the little girl's heart. That much was so obvious, now more than ever.
A million things had gone wrong, most of them starting with Elmer, rest his soul the silly fool. But Abby could have fought through it instead of keeping her place at Elmer's side. Their marriage was a partnership, not a romance, so why did she hold onto it so and allow the girl being raised as their daughter to drift so far away?
Abby was at the bed now. Amy's hair hung over her face, and as gently as she could she plucked the loose strands and moved them away. She looked so peaceful now, asleep there on the bed. It's all Abby wanted, for Amy to feel happy and at peace, but more and more that seemed further and further away. Abby felt powerless, useless in this, the one goal she had for the poor girl.
She bent over and kissed Amy on the head. She stood up, looking at her for the longest time before quietly walking back to the door. She looked back a last time before quietly shutting the door behind her...
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Post by Brie on Oct 27, 2006 12:23:43 GMT -6
Brie approached the medtech at the desk. "How's Captain Amy doing?"
The medtech didn't need to check the chart. "Very well. She's allowed visitors, with permission of course. Next on the list is Colonel Charybdis, but I don't know where he's gone. If I can't find him in the next few centons, I'll see if you'll be allowed."
"Thanks," Brie said. She took a seat. After learning that Skyler was missing and seeing Lazant, she really couldn't wait to see Amy. She needed the emotional lift.
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 28, 2006 7:41:16 GMT -6
Amy awoke feeling refreshed but still somehow drained as well. Confronting Ange had taken a lot out of her. Knowing he was her dad but knowing how it had happened, plus knowing what he had done to her, it felt exhausting to her. And somehow, the confrontation didn't feel like she thought it would.
She sat up, stretched her arms out, and let out a big yawn. It was quiet, very quiet, and with nothing happening it was the perfect time to sleep. She looked over at the box holding the shoes Brie had given her. She thought about looking at them again, then decided to roll over and get some more rest.
She slid down into the comfort of the bed, pulled the sheet up tight, and was soon asleep once more. But this time the sleep wasn't as peaceful. Images of Ange coming at her flooded her mind. Abby and Brie and how they'd failed her ate away at the corners of her memories.
She began to toss and turn, pulling the sheet out from it's tucked in corners. Finally she woke up with a gasp, and sat up breathing heavily.
"Frack me" she muttered, then reached for the glass of water on the nightstand next to the shoebox...
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Post by Brie on Oct 28, 2006 13:56:55 GMT -6
A few centons later the medtech approached Brie. "Still can't find the Colonel," she said. "So if you want to see Captain Amy, follow me."
Brie walked silently next to the woman. They stopped in front of a door. "According to her mother's instructions, I need to check with Amy first." As the door opened and the medtech entered Brie caught a glimpse of Amy. She looked tired.
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Post by Amy81 on Oct 28, 2006 17:05:43 GMT -6
The nurse entered the room, and Amy caught a glimpse of Brie outside the doorway as the door swung wide for a moment. "Feeling up for a visitor?" the nurse asked.
Amy ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back before letting it fall loose again. She held her head for a moment, then let her hands fall into her lap. She looked at the nurse but said nothing.
"You feel alright?" the nurse asked, walking over and putting a hand on Amy's forehead. She picked up Amy's wrist to check her pulse, but Amy pulled her hand away quickly.
"I'm okay" she said. "Fine. Just didn't sleep all that well."
"I'll leave you alone so you can rest then" the nurse concluded.
"No, it's okay" Amy said. "Maybe getting this visit over with will help me sleep better. Send Major Brie in..."
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