Rating: G
Summary: Madison makes a choice.
PS: To Darth Gilthoron, big thanks for pointing out my typo. (Argh, me idiot.) And actually no, we're never told what happened to Madison's team, which screamed unaddressed plot device to me, personally.
Legacy
by Annie D
the_80s_chick @ lycos.com
Angels came and went, that was the way things were. Some died, some got married, some outgrew or got bored of the game. But what remained constant was the torch, burning brightly in the form of a small speaker phone, and it always got passed on.
Each Angel had their own legacy, which had nothing to do with the photographic representations of themselves in the main hall. Though they were each beautiful and intelligent bright-burning stars, each and every one of them had endeavoured to burn even brighter, so to be remembered in the way that mattered.
The moment Madison Lee returned alone from that fateful mission, she thought that her legacy would be one of shame and disgrace. She did not even try to repress the anger that curled in her belly, for she knew that her fellow Angels had been lost due the careless arrogance of a disembodied voice, to which Madison would bow no longer. Why, she was better than him, and definitely better than the system. But above all, she was also better than petty revenge.
So she smiled and wiped her nose with a hanky like the good little Angel she was supposed to be, and tearfully told Charlie that she didn't have the heart to stay with the program, which was all right by him. But of course it was all right by him, for they weren't anything more than pretty little dolls all lined in a row ready to fulfil his every bidding.
Yes, Charlie. Of course, Charlie. No problem, Charlie.
He replaced Madison's team in less than a week. A trio of new sparkling smiles and perfect hair, standing where her team's shadows still lingered.
Madison, who no longer had any place there, wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She remembered, very clearly, that one of the first things that Charlie told a new Angel was that they were special. And if the initiation of an Angel was built with a lie, what did that make the rest of their relationship?
But once gifted new wings of freedom, Madison was starting to realise the truth of Charlie's hold on the Angels past, present and future. She could see how he bound their spirits with words and promises, like a father who always insists that he'll attend the next recital, yes, really.
And she decided right then what her legacy would be.
She would be the one to free the Angels.
FIN
