"Under the mask of normal."

Chapter 1

"Contact with an old friend."

When June Darby returned home from her job, the hour was late and her son already fast asleep in his bed.

With a tired sight she drew the car in the automatically-opening garage, before entering the warm safety of her little house.

After preparing herself a hot coffee, lighting up her fireplace and covering herself in a soft warmed-up blanket, the exhausted single mother settled down for a relaxing night with a good book.

The day was tiring at best. There was a terrible car accident that included a fallen over truck, cars smashing into it and each other, and a lot of fire. The cars were so mashed up together that, by the time the fire team arrived, most of them were already steadily burning and spreading the fire.

June shuddered as the image of the youngest victim, who got stuck inside one of the burning vehicles and ultimately ended up in the care of a doctor that she happened to be assisting. Shaking with pain and fear as she strapped supporting equipment to his body, so the risk of losing him was as minimal as possible.

The poor boy was so terribly disfigured even his parents had trouble recognizing their own child. His face burnt off, with the merciful exception of his eyes, looking more like a victim of the zombie apocalypse movies the children like to watch these days than a regular teen.

And he probably will never look remotely normal, ever again.

Flashback:

"I-It…hurts." The teen rasped, gripping June's hand like a lifeline and shaking like a leaf in the wind, as the nurse gently stroked what was left of his bright golden locks.

"Shhhh…" She whispered to him softly, keeping his watering eyes on her own while the doctors were working on fixing his wounds and stabilizing his heartbeat. "I know, sweetie. I promise it will be over soon."

"W-Where's m-mom?" The poor boy asked shakily, the question making June freeze. "S-She w-was right there w-with m-me. W-here i-is s-she?" The child then looked around frantically hoping to get a glimpse of his mother. "M-Mom?" He whispered, hoping against hope that she'll answer his call.

June just tightened her hold on the boy's hand.

"She's with you, sweetie." She said, voice thick with emotion. "Even if you can't see her."

That was all she could say before the child's eyes closed, releasing tears he didn't want to let go. Accepting a truth he didn't want to believe.

End of Flashback#

Shaking her head to dispose of the sad thoughts June promptly went back to her book, giving the story her undivided attention, while the fire place illuminated its words with the fire's soft yellow glow.

When she got to the middle an old forgotten jingle echoed through the empty halls, making June flinch and freeze in place.

That melody…

It was her comlink.

She hasn't heard it since…

Without another thought she bolted from the sofa and ran for the basement where laid the remains of her past life, she and Jack were forced to give up.

Kicking the barricaded door open with a loud bang, not caring if she woke her son or not, she immediately headed straight for the box in the blackest corner of the room. Pushing the rest of the junk-filled boxes out of her way (and getting a mouthful of dust in her face every time she did so) June made her way across the dark web-filled dungeon-of-a-basement, in search for the comlink.

During that 'exercise' she wondered who would call her after three years of no sign of existence, as well as entertained the question: Who survived to actually pull it off?

Not many of her kind, if any, survived the purge.

Emperor Palpatine, or Sidious whatever he called himself now, made sure of it.

She and Jack were among the few Jedi who were lucky enough to be in middle of space, returning from a incognito mission, during the prosecution of the dreaded and bloody 'Order 66' and managed to change course to find a safer place instead of going back to the now destroyed Jedi Temple.

She could still feel the cold blossom of dread from all those years ago when she and Jack, who at that time was also her Padawan, watched as 'Chancellor Palpatine' announced the grand fall of the Republic, as well as the Jedi, and declare the rise of the Empire with him at its ruler.

And that monster, that traitor, Anakin Skywalker, now more commonly known as Darth Vader, was standing right next to him. Tall, dark and deadly.

The prophesized 'Chosen One' that both her close friend Obi-Wan and his late master Qui-Gon belied in so much, brought forth the end of the Jedi.

Following that announcement the two soul-surviving Jedi, with tears in their eyes and a crushing feeling in their chests, changed the coordinates from 'Courscant' to the closest planet available: 'Earth'. Saying goodbye to the old life they both were born to and welcoming the new life that lied ahead, far away from the war between the Empire and the small rebelling groups.

Only to end up in the middle of another, between the Autobots and Decepticons.

The Force, or Primus she wasn't sure in what she's supposed to believe anymore, has a sick sense of humor like this.

Suddenly, during all that memory recap, she realized that one of the boxes she needed to push aside to get to the comlink was way too heavy for her to simply push over.

Growling in frustration she quickly calmed herself and reached out her hand.

She wondered if she could still do it, use the Force to move objects, it's been three long years since she had the time to practice some of her katas let alone force manipulation.

Concentrating hard on the singing communicator, she willed the ever present power to do as she asked and levitate the buzzing future-phone into her hand.

Surprisingly, it worked. The warm presence of the Force once again filled her body and mind after all those years of absence, making her feel nostalgic and homesick. She never thought she'd miss the bland Temple walls after spending most of her life in them, but she did. Very much.

The sound jingle of the communication devise getting louder and louder, pulled the single mother back to the presence. Opening her eyes, not remembering closing them in the first place, she watched the object land gently on her outstretched palm.

Taking a deep breath she pressed the answering button and waited for a holographic image of the caller to appear.

After a few minutes a picture of a small well known green being flickered into existence. And, once again, June was surprised at how much she missed the little mangling troll. The head master of all the Jedi looked tired and worn with worry but other than that looked completely fine, her healer's mind quickly supplied.

She frowned. That was the complete opposite to the state she expected him to be in. With him being the leader of all Jedi, you'd think the Chancellor would want him dead as soon as possible and here he was, completely uninjured.

"Hello, Master Darby." Yoda's voice was just as gentle and soft as she remembered. "Good to see you alive and well, it is." His unique ability, who he seemed to share only with Optimus Prime, to sound completely different than everyone else, was still present as well.

"It is good to see you too, old friend." June answered with a smile. "It's been a while and we have a lot to discuss."