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It was the alarms that suddenly blared, ringing in his ears and into his brain that made Handsome Jack jump in his chair with a loud ‘fuck!’. Lights were flashing blue all around his office as his nostrils flared to suck air into his lungs, his eyes widening in horror.
Blue flashing lights were not a good thing.
Red lights meant the usual. Something was wrong with the station. A Loader Bot gone nuts, an experiment escaping from the labs, someone was attacking the station, or even some dum-dum getting trapped in a vent on a dare. That happened once and Jack, being the hero that he was, promptly ejected them into space by venting … well the vents. No more blockages.
But blue lights meant something so much worse that had Jack immediately start sweating as he quickly turned to his computer, abandoning the paperwork about some new eridium mining site that he was looking over.
The blue lights meant something was happening in the Control Core.
Gnawing on his lower lip in worry, Jack opened a direct secure communication line to Angel and quickly typed.
HJ69: baby, you there? wats going on?!
…
HJ69: angel answer me!!!
Jack waiting five more seconds for a reply, but nothing. Angel’s line was silent.
With a growl, he turned on the surveillance cameras and he felt like all the air in his lungs were suddenly sucked out. Angel wasn’t there, but the shield protecting her was still up. That would make sense. He would have been alerted if a bandit got too close to the Bunker. Sensors and failsafes were in place to protect her.
He felt his heartrate pick up as he looked at the different feeds in a panic trying to look for her. Then he saw her, and he felt numb. She was still there, in that bubble shield, unconscious and lying on the floor. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.
Jack quickly dashed out of his chair and down to the stairs towards the exit before quickly veering off to the right, opening a secret panel revealing a Fast Travel Station. This particular one was directly linked to the Control Core and nowhere else. He tapped in his destination and as soon as it was loaded, he hit the accept option.
Blue lights pulsed softly when Jack finally made it into the core. No alarms were ringing but it didn’t stop Jack. He dashed into the core, glancing towards Angel who still hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor and went straight for the control to lower the shields.
“Gahh, son of a taint! Hurry up!” Jack growled at the console as it took its sweet time to disengage.
He dashed up to the shield to look at Angel. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. He clenched and unclenched his fists and the shield finally started to disappear from the top down.
As soon as he was able to, Jack jumped over the still dissipating shield and immediately ran and crouched next to his daughter and pulled her into his arms.
Jack had to admit, it had been some time since he had come down to see Angel in person, too long in fact and it did chew on him in moments of quiet in his hectic life, but he always thought that she was doing well. She always looked good when they spoke via video calls. Healthy, growing, and happy.
But looking at her now, unconscious in his arms, he was so terribly mistaken as his eyes ran over her body..
Angel’s eye sockets were sunken and her cheeks were hollowed in, really pronouncing her cheekbones. Her collarbones poked out, and her arms and hands were so thin. It was like there were no fat layers, barely any muscles mass. Under his hands, he could feel her ribs. He could count them just by touching them.
Jack's face scrunched up in pain as he looked at her, his heart painfully squeezing.
Gently, he took out the eridium injectors, and detached the wires connected to her head. She didn’t even twitch. Lastly, he gently took off the collar that was there to subdue her abilities and tossed it to the side somewhere uncaringly.
As softly as he could, Jack picked her up bridal style. She was so light as she laid in his arms. Jack had to blink away some unshed tears. He knew it was his fault. He really should have checked in, in person to see her.
He walked slowly to the Fast Travel station so as to not jolt her in her state. She felt like spun glass, one wrong move and she’ll break. As he reached the station, he shuffled her in his arms so he could get to Helios.
She needed medical attention and fast.
Jack just hoped that she’ll survive two trips through the stations. One back to his office, and another to the med bay.
--
"What are you idiots doing?! Get fucking here now!" Jack bellowed as soon as he appeared from the Fast Travel Station in the med bay.
Nurses who were chatting to the admins and doctors who were walking by startled at Jack's sudden appearance.
“Of course Sir! Please, this way!” One of the nurses broke out of his stupor when she saw the unconscious body in his arms and started to hastily pace her way down the hall. This broke everyone else from their own stupor, and before long, the entire place was chaos and they all rushed about.
Jack was jogging behind the nurse who was leading him to his own private medical room. He held onto Angel tighter and closer to his chest. He glanced down at her before quickening his pace.
As they reached his private suite, the staff quickly asked Jack to place Angel onto the bed. The sounds of the staff getting their equipment ready faded into the background as he watched her lifeless head just roll on her shoulders. He placed her legs down first and quickly moved his now freed hand to support her head as he laid the rest of her down. His heart twisted at the sight of her shallow and barely there breathing.
He watched her for a total of two seconds before twisting around and grabbing the lapels of the closest person who just happened to be one of the doctors.
"Listen very carefully,"Jack whispered threateningly to him, "If anything happens to her, I swear to every fucking god out there that I will make you and everyone you ever care about suffer. I will scalp. Every. Single. One. Of them in front of your miserable weeping soul and pin them for display. Am I understood?" Jack growled through his teeth.
"Y-yes sir!" The doctor whimpered out. Jack let go of him and stormed out the door into the viewing area. He knew that they couldn't do what they needed to do if he was in the room with them. His hands constantly fisting and loosening, pacing occasionally as he tried to contain his anger and absolute fear for his daughter's life.
He stayed there as the staff worked to save her life. Her pale face and completely malnourished body imprinted into his mind.
He just hoped he wasn’t too late.