brokencode | IC Inbox [VR]

[Jack's not yelling when he calls her late in the night. He figures she won't answer, he'll just leave a message. That's fine. He doesn't want to talk to her. He just wants her to understand what she's done. That's gotta be it. She just doesn't realize what she's doing, how deeply she's hurting him. Kids rebel. It's one of those cliches that exists for a reason. She never got a chance, she's trying it now...that's all it is.]

[But Jack isn't sure he believes it. He wants to, because otherwise...otherwise she cut him to the core and set him loose on purpose. But either way, she's gonna know what she's done.]

[His voice is cold and tired and oddly conversational, and rough with the clear evidence of drinking, but there's a steel underneath it. He's beyond angry.]

You know, sweetheart....I always thought you were special. Different. Better than people, you know? I always thought...the universe sucks, people suck, but my Angel...she's got a heart of gold. She's good. She's got nothing but love in'er. I always thought you were the one person who'd always stick by me. The one person I could really trust.

But turns out...you're apparently just like everybody else. Just waiting for the first chance to get a knife in my back and twist it as hard as you friggin can.

Does it feel good, Angel? I hope it does. I hope all the pain and suffering you're causing is worth it. I hope you're real proud, of what you're doing with our fresh start.

And I hope you realize that everything that comes next...that's on you.

'Cause y'see, I don't have anything left to give a single flying frig about.

[Angel didn't notice the message until the next morning, after her bags were packed and both she and her new companion had set out. She spent the rest of her day in a quiet sort of stupor, gnawing at the inside of her cheek and speaking only when spoken to. Her companion's own reclusive nature was a blessing in that sense — there was no need to force a conversation between the two of them.]

[It left her plenty of time to think]

[It wasn't until she and Murphy had settled in for the night that she withdrew her pokegear and listened to the message again. She had expected her father's fury, but for all her efforts, couldn't actually prepare herself for it.]

[Even after all the time that had passed between them, even after her father had sent her to her grave, she still felt guilty.

I do love you. [Her voice was feeble, trembling.] But you twisted the knife first, Jack.

[Even after she put her 'gear away, his words still hung in her mind. "Everything that comes next..." She swallowed down the apprehension, before glancing in the direction of Murphy, of Mari, and then out into the darkness of the woods. All she had wanted was to protect both herself and others.]

[Was it really going to lead to more bloodshed?]

[It's been a week. He's left her alone. She hasn't made any more little speeches, he hasn't made a fuss about it. But he's losing his mind. He hasn't seen any sign of her on public channels and it frustrates, worries, and infuriates him.]

[He finally calls her.]

You ready to come home now, sweetheart?

[Angel barely noticed the message on her 'gear. It had been a busy few days, ones that passed in a pleasant sort of blur. For a time, her device had lain forgotten, picked up only when she felt the need to contact the friends she had made in her first trip.]

[She had been expecting that sort of message when she opened her 'gear. She was unnerved to hear Jack's voice, but a quick glance in the direction that she knew Athena was put her nerves at ease.]

[She was safe. She would be from now on.]

I am home, Jack.

Not in the mood for any metaphorical, feel-good bullshit, Angel.

I gave ya a week. Let ya do whatever you wanted. A week's long enough. This is ridiculous. This is stupid! We've wasted more than enough time.

This is ridiculous, Jack. You do not seem to be able to take a hint. I am not coming back. I'm safe where I am, I am safe away from you.

You had your chance to be my father. You had your chance to keep me safe. You squandered it by using me as your weapon.

Please. Stop contacting me. It will be easiest for the both of us.

Edited 2016-09-13 16:12 (UTC)

Oh for the love of....that's not what happened and you know it. We have talked about this Angel. And I've told you that I'm sorry things were the way they were. But it doesn't matter now.

You're the one who's not getting it here. Not me. You're making slanderous speeches and running away and friggin ghosting me. I'm just trying to move forward. To give you a better life.

[He lets out a bitter snort then. She...she really doesn't get it.]

No, princess, it's not gonna be easier for both of us. I've got nothing if I don't have you. I've lost everything I've ever had in life. It's all gone. One way or another, it all got friggin ripped away. I....

But now I've got a shot at doing it again, and even...even get you back. And you're just being ungrateful and hurtful and selfish.

I spent my entire life being tortured and traumatized by you. You don't get to say that it doesn't matter now. For once in my life I get to make my own decisions, Jack, and I am deciding to not go home to you. I am deciding to not forget or forgive any of what you did to me. You had your chance to make things right. If you wanted a daughter instead of a tool, you could have stopped using me for your own goals years ago.

You said you want me to have a better life. I'm working on one right now. One that doesn't involve you.

I am asking you one last time, Jack. Leave me alone.

Don't you dare!

[Jack roars the words, and there's the sound of something breaking and a feline screech of distress.]

If you were a tool, I would have just left you on your own. I did everything I could for you! Can you even begin to understand what I went through? For you? Do you even realize that I had to do what I did to keep you safe? There's worse assholes out there than me, Angel, and what they would have done to you....

We were working together to make a better world!

Fine. That's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy, Angel. I'm done trying to reason with you and let you make up your own mind. I tried. I really friggin tried!

[Another unpleasant accompaniment of things being pushed over and Pokemon caught in the crossfire.]

[The yowling in the background cracked through Angel's icy demeanor. Her expression shifted, becoming one of intense distress. Beneath her breast, her heart began to pound, while her fingers clenched against her palms.]

[Stay strong, she urged herself. You have to stay strong.]

There are good people too, Jack. Athena and Janey are keeping me safe. They had no reason to do so, but they're doing it. A-and I've met so many more people outside of them.

I know there are bad people out there. But you have to understand... None of them could have hurt me in the way you have. And I will take a thousand beatings, or whatever else they throw at me, if it means that I can finally be away from you.

[She braced herself, waiting for the next violent outburst, and hoping that whatever creature that had been caught in the crossfire had the sense to escape while it could.]

Those 'good people' have nothing to do with the fact my bosses would have dissected you then thrown you out an airlock!

[He slams his fist on his desk.]

That's who you're with? You realize she wants to kill me. Threatens me like all the time. AND FOR THE LAST FRIGGIN TIME THERE IS NOTHING TO KEEP YOU SAFE FROM! You've made me up into this....I dunno, heartless monster or some crap.

Just...I gave you a week, didn't I? Give me one. That's the friggin least you can do for your father!

Keeping me locked and pumped full of eridium is so much better, isn't it?

[Angel closed her eyes tight, still praying for strength she wasn't sure she had. The ECHOs of her former allies came to mind, and how they had fearlessly stood up to their own opposition. She had to be like that. She had to be like Maya, who fought her way from her own captivity, away from people who also wanted to abuse her powers.]

[Be strong]

Only a heartless monster could abuse his child and then be angry at her for being afraid. You lost your chance years ago, Jack. It is like you said, everything that follows is on you.

It's not like I enjoyed that, Angel. Or expected the side effects that happened. Do you want me to apologize? Fine! I'm sorry.

But don't try and say I abused you. I never hit you. I never starved you, I never beat you, I never put you in a hot metal box till you passed out. That is abuse, Angel. I made some...hasty mistakes. And did everything I friggin could to make you as comfortable and happy as I could.

I'm not mad at you for being afraid, for god's sake! I'm mad at you for being unreasonable and hurtful and not even letting me see you!

[Those are some...unpleasant noises in the background. Most of his Pokemon are smart enough to have slunk away, but Cattrap, ever desperate for his trainer's affection, is finding himself very uncomfortably squeezed at the moment.]

No. You just trapped me underground, away from everyone. You forced me to lead people to their deaths. And you...

[Angel hesitated. She was skirting dangerously over a festering wound between the two of them, and one wrong move would spell disaster for not just them, but everyone, everything around them. She wasn't so oblivious to not hear the sounds coming from Jack's side of the connection, and while she did what she could to ignore them, the ever-pressing voice in her head served as a grim reminder that whatever was happening in the background was likely her fault.]

[She knew all of that, but the words tumbled out anyway.]

You blamed me for what happened to my mother. You have done all of these awful things to me, forced me to live under your thumb for all of my life.

You lost the right to see me, Jack. And Athena will see to it that you never have that right again. Do not came anywhere near me.

[It's not at all what Jack expects to hear. He's quiet a moment, and he loosens the grip he didn't even realize he had on his Meowth.]

[While Angel's words aren't wrong, the part of Jack that places blame is something deep and unrealized, even by the man himself. As far as he knows, he doesn't blame her. How could he? She'd just been a kid. Nobody understood her powers, what she was capable of. It wasn't her fault.]

Whoah, whoah, Angel...is that what you really think?

[Angel breathed a small sigh of relief the second the sounds seem to stop, too caught up in her own thoughts to consider what other implications the silence might have had.]

You do, don't you? [Her voice was small, feeble even. He was listening for once, and she wasn't about to shatter the delicate moment by raising her voice.]

[Jack sighs. He scrubs a hand over his face and then cringes. He's home alone, he's letting his face air out. He's suddenly very, very tired.]

No, Angel, I don't.

Look...I...I don't want to get into a whole big thing. You don't need to hear about any of it, I don't wanna talk about any of it.

But I don't blame you. It was an accident. You were a friggin little kid...

Being young never stopped you before, Jack... [As accusatory as her tone sounded, her voice was still soft.]

But I am not a child anymore. And I need you to understand that I don't feel safe around you. Years of torment doesn't just... go away over night.

[She drew a heavy breath, the next word lodged firmly in her throat. It was one syllable, one she had said recently even. That time, it had been coerced out of her, just as it had every time before]

[It felt odd to want to say it of her own volition.]

Dad, if you ever want me back, you need to let me be. You need to start listening to me. You need to prove that you really, truly have changed. It is the only way I will be able to trust you.

Edited 2016-09-13 18:52 (UTC)

Look, sweetheart....I am willing to....make some kind of show of goodwill, since clearly this is a Big Thing. But I'm not just gonna sit back and get cut out of your life. How the hell am I supposed to prove to you that you have no reason to be scared, if I can't even see you?

[Kids. You just gotta indulge'em sometimes. What is she talking about, changed? He doesn't need to change. It was all circumstances. That don't exist here. At least he's apparently making some progress and she's not going to make him talk about her mother.]

C'mon, Angel, use some logic. If you want me to do anything, you kinda have to actually give me the chance. How can you even know what it's gonna be like here, if you don't?

Gimme a day.

[And there she was, frustrated again. As if it wasn't obvious why this was "a big thing." As if it wasn't obvious why she was scared and needed space.]

[Once again, her fingers tightened, clenching into soft palms or the hard surface of the pokegear. She was relieved that no one was nearby to hear her, that no one could see how distraught she was.]

[Just how hard was it to listen to her?]

I need to know that you are treating me like an adult. That means that when I say something, you take heed of it.

[She let out an exasperated sigh, knowing full well that Jack would quickly fire back with some sort of nonsense.]

If you want a day then you need to speak with Athena. I will not go anywhere without her knowing, nor without her there to keep an eye on things. If you hope to have even a chance of seeing me, you will allow that.

[The more she spoke, the more tired she got, and she knew that the more tired she got, the easier it would be to relent. She wanted nothing more than to shut the 'gear down and ignore him for another week. But silence would only encourage him. As riled up as he was, it would only get worse if his anger festered.]

[Better to let someone stronger than her try to work it all out.]

No. I'm not going through Athena for this. This is between me and you, Angel. It's family stuff. I don't care if she knows, I don't care if she sticks nearby, but she's not a part of this. She's not gonna be some go-between I have to arrange visitation rights through.

[Not happening. Athena isn't calling the shots on whether or not he sees his own friggin daughter. The fact that he's reduced to bargaining with Angel is bad enough. The things he goes through for this girl....]

You want me to treat you like an adult? Fine. Adults don't need babysitters. And I'm gonna say it again, you're scared of nothing. I am acknowledging that you're scared, but I'm trying to tell you that you don't have any reason for it. I am not going to do anything to you. I just want my daughter back.

[The exhaustion weighs heavier on her now, coming out in the form of a long sigh. Her eyes closed, and a hand raised to pinch at her nose.]

[It would be easiest for her to shut up off her 'gear and let him sit in silence. It was what he deserved, as far as she was concerned. She probably would have done so if she felt it would have made any difference.]

[But she had seen the way his anger had manifested itself. Once again she needed to be the selfless mediator, and ignore her own discomfort for the time being.]

One more week then. If you want me to be the one to make the decision, then give me that. I need to be sure I am ready.

Angel....

[Jack sighs. Another week. One's been hellish enough.]

[But what the hell else can he do? She's all worked up and lashing out, and if he gives her anything she can try and use...]

[How the hell did it all get this messed up?]

Alright. Alright. One more week, I won't ask you about coming home or anything. But...don't dick me around. Don't pull what you pulled last weekend.

And can we at least talk? I miss talking to ya, sweetheart.

[No, the voice in her head urged. Just say no..]

[A week without his voice in her ear would give her clarity. A week without him would put her in a better position to make her decision. She had no doubt in her mind that Jack would whisper whatever poison he could in order to manipulate her, so that she had no choice but to say yes.]

[But she also doubted he would take no for an answer. And at that moment, all she wanted was silence, however brief.]

Okay. [Her voice was so soft, she could barely even hear herself say it.] But no more today. I'm... I'm tired.

Okay.

Yeah. Me too, baby. Me too.

[Exhausted, really. He feels like he has been, ever since she showed up.]

Alright, I'll...I'll let ya go. Sleep good, okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow.

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