Thank You DCA Fandom For The Memories!

She Will Remember

A slower day was always a nice day. Angie sat at her desk, sorting through her new patient logs and supplies lists. There were no new patients to see today, a rare occurance that left her with no reports to enter and no parent phone calls to make. Perhaps she would be happier about that fact if it didn’t make for the most boring eight hours she could imagine! At least the trucks orders would be in on time. The thermometer cover supply was getting dangerously low…

A solid knock resounded off the glass of her door.

“Come in,” Angie said while straightening up her crumpled uniform.

Damien was the first person she saw and, like a dazzling sunrise, she lit up at the sight of him. Only for the sombre creak of twilight’s final hours to reel in her light’s harsh reality. That her pleasant sunrise was nothing more that the haunting toll of sunset before the night's darkest and most wicked hours. In came Percy and his new wife, who was all smiles and false cheer. Angie could feel her face fall. Her shoulders sink under the weight the man’s presence in front of her. And in his eyes she saw the very discontent that unveiled her blinded ones all those years ago. He was as annoyed as Damien was uncomfortable, standing behind his father with gaze glued to the floor.

“Angie,” Percy’s tone was suffocating, “I am taking Damien tonight.”

“He has school tomorrow,” Angie replied curtly

“Then you can pick him up in the morning,” Percy spoke shortly before turning to his wife, “Will you take him to the car while I straighten something out, love?”

Angie couldn’t help but feel sick at the way they spoke together. Or how the women tried to take her son out by the hand as if she were his mother. Angie couldn’t help the dread she felt of seeing the man’s face as he took the only thing she had left away again. Even if it was just briefly. The air dragged into her lungs like sludge, and he was the polluted source that contaminated it.

“What did you need to speak with me about?”

“I need you to straighten out the daycare’s pickup instructions,” frustration seeped through every word Percy spoke, “It took me fifteen minutes to get Damien out of there.”

“Well, did you try talking to daycare attendant about this?”

“That thing was the biggest problem. I can’t believe you leave Damien in a room with a bunch of other children and no adult to watch them,” he snapped, “If you can’t watch him then you should drop him off with me or hire a sitter. I shouldn’t have to try and convince a stupid robot I’m his father and fill out forms every time I want to pick up my son. It’s ridiculous and if you don’t get it fixed then we’re going to have to make different arrangements.”

That familiar spike of anger began to flare up in Angie’s chest. It is always there in his presence. The resentment. But the snide remarks- the extra work he put on her fueled those embers inside. He knows just how hard she works and could easily take care of the problem himself if it bothered him so much. But instead her stone mask carved a smile onto her face as he demanded more from her. 

“I’ll speak with the daycare attendant about your checkout process later,” She wanted to let her anger speak, but instead her calm voice poured out a robotic melody, “since you do arrive outside your scheduled days, unfortunately they have to follow protocol-”

“Then update it,” Percy retorted.

Angie held herself perfectly, the ridgedness in her bones betrayed by the relaxed poise that assumed her character on the outside, “is there anything else you needed, sir.”

Hatred.

She hates him.

“We’re going to take Damien out to see that new movie he’s been talking about for family night,” there it was, “enjoy your quiet night at home, Angie.”

Her smile grew. Forced into place by invisible suctures and no numbing to dull the pain. And even when the door clicked shut, she held her place. Frozen aside from the light quiver that rattled her body. There was always a last word. A final jab. Something more to make sure she hurt and he left feeling superior. Something she couldn’t let him know bothered her.

Angie hated Valentine's day.

Today was a day to remind her of how her life had fallen apart.

Something to remind her that the love she thought she once had was fake.

It was pathetic really. She still felt so much torment inside despite so many years. 

Angie walked back to her desk chair on puppet strings. Flipping through the papers once more but reading nothing. The truck order will have to wait until tomorrow.. Her feet tapped against the ground. Fingernails digging into her thighs. The man was gone and yet the suffocation remained. A lone, disheartened tear trickled down her cheek as her eyebrows twisted. Fingers dug deeper and gripped whatever fabric they could clasp in their fists. That hatred boiled inside. Festering in the form of small doubts and petty questions. It hurt to know the lie this day represented almost as much as the pain of knowing she craved its representation. 

Angie couldn’t help but look at the clock.

The daycare was already closed by now. Part of her wondered if it would be too soon to visit?

Numb legs moved on their own. Surely it wouldn’t hurt for her to come a bit earlier than usual if the daycare was already closed? Angie crossed the checkerboard floor outside the glass. The music cuts out on the hour of closing and the silence would be deafening if it weren’t for the click of her shoes against the floor. From outside those massive wooden doors, she could hear them scrambling inside. A small rose of hope bloomed in a sea of self misery.

Angie let herself in while wiping the wetness away from her cheek, “Hello?”

Sun was frantically gathering things into his arms and tearing across the playmat floor, muttering away in that joy-filled tone she held so dearly. And yet she frowned as he walked past her to continue to clean. Even with this kind of day he was the same. Always so happy. So endearing. Such a ray of Sunshine. His bad days were still taken with silly tones and smiles. 

The rose drowned beneath the crashing waves. 

And now that she thought about it… They never came to see her at all today. On a day dedicated to love.

“Sun?”

“Yes, Starlet?” He didn’t even pause his wild cleaning spree to look at her. Still smiling away despite the pain that echoed in her hollow chest.

“Do you love me?” Angie asked.

“Of course, Sunshine.”

The attendant disappeared beyond the play structures, continuing to speak to himself somewhere out of view. Her body was once again frozen. The ice encasing that delicate, rotting flower. Somehow, even with no mean words spoken, that hurt more than anything else that day. Being brushed off so blatantly while being told she was loved. It drew a parallel that turned her spit sour and allowed that looming dread to seize hold. Was it love? Or what she’s being told. If he was programed to love everyone- why would she be special?

Sun skipped back into the room, arms filled with stuffed animals and rays spinning. Just like he always does. Even in the same room. Even when exchanging words, she was so alone. 

“Can you feel love?”

Sun froze as his faceplate snapped to her, his same smiling face unreadable in the moment of stale silence. And she stared back, just as blank and unfeeling.

“What… Do you mean, Miss Nurse?” Those sing-song notes spoke quietly.

“Can you even feel love.”

Every nerve in her body flares on its ends. Unease pooled in her stomach. That sick kind of all-consuming dread that plunged itself into ones chest like a knife and tore straight through barreling upon her. The ice crystilized the spine of the dead rose as the heat of his optics burned into her. Much like her own eyes that remain fixated on him alone.

“Of course we do,” Sun paused for just a moment, words soft and confused, “we know it very well.”

“Knowing,” Angie couldn’t help the way her body fell in place, the agony of a bleeding chest, “Is a lot different then feeling.”

The plushies in Sun’s arms fell to the ground, face unmoving and body ridged. Perfectly still as if he had powered down yet his optics remained present and dim. 

Dim like the lights that grew faint around them and darkness consumed the space. The silence held no comfort, and the twinkling nightlights held no shine. Even the piercing red eyes in front of her seemed so far away. It was just like then. How her body no longer felt like her own and the world grew distant around her. That despite the anguish she was feeling, everything was just… So blank.

“How could you say that?” A pang echoed through her body at Moon’s harsh tone.

Part of her didn’t even know. 

“You really don’t believe us?” Moon remained still, “Don’t see us?”

“Moon…” Angie began to speak but the words became lost to silence. Why?

Moon stepped into the feeble light of the daycare monitor behind her. His movements were robotic, yet so full of life, “Your words are like the tools they use to tear the wires from our chest. The sparks burning our endoskeleton and overloading our system. Metal hot in a way that makes us want to do nothing but scream.”

“I’m so sorry Moon-”

“No,” he hung over her with piercing eyes, “when we see you, our fans kick into overdrive. We heat up inside and when you speak- our audio sensor narrow in to increase your voice. We cannot help our system flaring up when you call us your Shine and Light.”

Guilt. It was a feeling so heavy it increased the gravity of ones being. Angie felt her body begin to break under the pressure as Moon took her hands into his.

“I cannot help but adore you when you call me your Nightlight.”

Angie’s eyes burned, clenching onto Moon’s hands as her only crutch.

“And you Angie,” He leans closer to her face, “are my lovely Nightingale that sings to my chassis at night. And I want nothing more than than fly together in the moonlight.”

“So please believe us when we say we love you.”

“I do.” Angie’s voice crackled under the moment's burden, “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

Moon pulled her to him, cradling her body against his as tears melted the chill that consumed her. Melted the tattered rose that regained a bit of it’s beauty with the small water beads that adorned it. And with every tear, a flood of mixed emotions rushing away from it’s battered form. Allowed it to try and bloom in the moonlight that shelters it once more. She couldn’t help the mumble of apologies that fell from her heavy heart. He held her so gently, so together despite every piece of her falling apart.

It took a moment for her to calm down. Makeup staining the cloth of her sleeves as she wiped the tears away. She explained how Percy approached her. Talked down to her in her office. In front of Damien. And how he made sure to remind her that she would be alone. How he always had to try and crush her, and she could do nothing but smile. She was at work. If she loses her job… She would lose everything again and they would take her sweet baby from her. Without a job she can’t provide for Damien. And he used that to his advantage every time.

Moon was quiet, but the few reassuring squeezes of his hands was more than enough. Because even if he was a machine, he could feel her aching. And he could understand being trapped in a cycle of faking what was really happening inside.

“No more of the deadbeat,” Moon pulled Angie into his arms, “Sun has something he wanted to show you.”

The wire pulled taunt against his back as he swept her off her feet, the ground below disappearing into the dark. It was scary and yet she felt so safe in mechanical arms. 

He had brought her to their room’s balcony, beckoning her closer while pulling against the curtains. A smile met her tears again today. Only ones of joy under the flicker of gentle candlelight. They had set up a table for her, daycare snacks formed into one of Sun’s proclaimed ‘masterpieces.’

The lights flicked on.

“Suprise,” Sun took her hand and led her inside.

“Goodness,” she couldn’t help but weakly chuckle, “you did this all for me?”