Anyone else feeling sorry for Perry already?

…

From outside, Perry headed straight to Major Monogram's office. He wasn't going to let on that he had heard his superior's secret conversation but he wanted answers, and that want made him cross.

He burst the door open, to protests from Carl, who was over by the filing cabinet, and stormed up to the desk, where Major Monogram was sitting.

"How long have you known about ARCHANGEL?" he demanded.

Major Monogram said nothing. With a calm expression on his face, he gestured to the chair. "Sit, Agent P."

"I'd prefer to stand," Perry said forcefully. "…sir."

Major Monogram sighed. "Look, Agent P, you know that I was only informed about ARCHANGEL five years ago when you arrived."

"I don't believe you. I think you've known about ARCHANGEL since Kane defected from them."

Major Monogram looked sharply up at Perry. "How did you know that?"

"I didn't," Perry replied, folding his arms.

Major Monogram stared at him for a moment longer before he sighed and closed his eyes, having realised he fell for Perry's bluff.

"So it's true? Kane used to work for ARCHANGEL?"

"He was one of the founding members, just like his brother Kirk Kennedy was," Major Monogram explained, resigned. "But he soon left when he disagreed with what ARCHANGEL was planning. He came here and offered all the information he had on ARCHANGEL, which wasn't much, since he left before the plan had been implemented. It turned out that they changed most of it because Kane had left."

"So what about me?"

"Well, when Monty found you and you said you had come from ARCHANGEL, I pretended not to know anything about them so that you would give me all the information you had."

"You lied to me," Perry accused.

"I'm sorry, Agent P. I needed to protect my organisation."

Perry took a step backwards and accidentally bumped into the chair. He glared daggers at it.

"Agent P, I need to ask you a serious question."

Perry looked back up at Major Monogram. "Sure."

"Do you still have any loyalty to ARCHANGEL?"

Perry stared at the major in shock and horror, a pit settling in his stomach. He had not expected his superior to admit that he had doubts about Perry's loyalty towards OWCA.

"Do you still have any loyalty to ARCHANGEL?" repeated Major Monogram, more firmly this time.

Perry slammed his fist on the desk and said in a low yet angry voice, "Sir, ARCHANGEL captured my parents and made my mother give birth to me in a prison cell, snatching me away from them just two days after I was born. They raised me not as a child but as a machine, giving me wound after wound and scarring me forever." He lifted up the fur on his left bicep and displayed the red scar. "They treated me like I was not a living being. They gave me little nutrition, sent me out on missions where I often almost died, and branded me." He turned round and showed Major Monogram the brand of two angel wings on the small of his back, spreading up to his shoulders. "They are responsible for half my life, and they made sure it was a life full of fear and pain with very little reward. The only things that made my life bearable was the periods of fun I had with my best friends, who are all still loyal to ARCHANGEL. I, however, am not. And frankly I am very much insulted that you think I still have any kind of obligation to ARCHANGEL."

Perry didn't stick around to hear the major's reply. He turned and stormed out of the room, feeling sick to his stomach. It was one thing to overhear Major Monogram confiding in Carl that he suspect Perry of being loyal to his former organisation but it was another entirely for his superior to tell him to his face.

He decided to go down to the cells and find out which other animals were caught. After all, he hadn't recognised all the Taskers, so it was likely that Kirk had recruited more operatives. However, if Portia had been there (which she had been), perhaps Georgia and Oliver were there after all. Or perhaps Carlos or any of the other Taskers who had been in ARCHANGEL at the same time as Perry.

He changed course and began to walk in the direction of the cells when he saw Pansy coming towards him. She had a bandage over the top of her arm. Perry quickly ran towards her. "Did it go okay?"

Pansy nodded. Her face was slightly pale but she had a smile on her face. "He's going to be okay. I'm feeling a bit dizzy now but Apollo said the transfusion worked. Pinky's going to be off his feet for a while, according to Apollo, but he's not going to die."

Perry hugged Pansy tightly in both relief and happiness. "Man, I was worried," he gasped out. "Pinky's been my best friend for five years."

Pansy surprised Perry by abruptly pulling away from him. "Perry, about that platypus…"

"I knew her from ages ago, okay?" Perry felt worried about how Pansy would react. He hadn't told her his past in ARCHANGEL but because Pansy had missed Major Monogram's announcement, she didn't even know about the organisation. Perry suddenly saw a way out of this awkward situation, but that was only if Pansy's sense of duty overpowered her jealousy and curiosity. "Oh, by the way, Major Monogram gave us a speech in the main hall, that you missed. It was pretty important so you might need to go see him."

Pansy was technically an OWCA agent but she was basically a teaching assistant to the person who trained the Agents In Training, and since there were no AITs at the moment, Pansy basically had a lot of time off.

Pansy gave Perry a suspicious look. "Don't think this conversation is over, Perry. I want to know everything about your history with Portia."

Perry nodded nervously. "Okay."

Pansy shot one more glare at Perry before she walked past him and went into Major Monogram's office.

Perry headed down to the cells. Eleanor the Eagle and Harry the Hyena were on guard. Harry took one look at Perry's dishevelled appearance and burst into laughter. Perry would normally be insulted by that but he just ignored it. "Can I go in?" he asked.

Eleanor gave a stiff nod and buzzed Perry through without a word. He stopped just as the door closed behind him and took a deep breath.

This was it.

…

Aaaaaaand you'll have to wait 'til next time to see Perry's reunion with Portia I:}