Maelstrom Chapter 34
Dusk
Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original Maelstrom Comics and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.
Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored! This scene contains strong language, violence, and sex. Rated M for adult themes!
Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Story and OC characters are mine. Critiques adored!
Maelstrom 34
Dusk
Part A
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Rodimus and Lancer landed hard - again. That they were in the same courtyard outside of Central was no surprise. That everyone they had said goodbye to so long ago was standing in roughly the same place was a surprise. The teleport left them ill, but Lancer caught sight of her kids and moved, almost shocking Malice into dropping the baby.
Certainly the telekenetic thought the tears and obsessed inspection was a bit over the top.
Rodimus morphed and pounced on his partner. "Optimus! What day is it?"
"RODIMUS! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING BACK HERE ALREADY?!" Optimus roared.
"Already?! WHAT DAY IS IT?!"
"It's your anniversary Moron!" Magnus said rudely. He was pissed. Rodimus was in a dangerous state and had no business playing games with everyone's safety.
"WHAT YEAR?!" Rodimus demanded.
"Huh?" Magnus asked.
"Rodimus...we didn't mess with the date that much!" Elita told him.
Rodimus shook his head in frustration. "How long have we been gone?" he asked.
"About three minutes!" Optimus snapped. "Why are you wasting time? Go already!"
"I've been gone!" Rodimus insisted. "We've been gone for almost a YEAR! I need a piece of paper!"
"WHAT?!" cried the crowd, pretty much in unison.
"Lancer and I crossed dimensions. We've been there for months! We need to meet. Everyone! Maelstrom crew, command staff! Everyone! Just as soon as I see my kids and you get me a piece of paper and something to write with!"
"But!" Optimus said weakly.
Rodimus cussed creatively and morphed down, still cussing. Then he joined Lancer in making much of the kids while Pagan teleported. She came back with the "requested" piece of paper and a pen from Lancer's quarters on the ship.
Lancer smiled thanks at her friend and wrote "We made it!" with a cross-eyed smiley face. She put the teleporter on it and activated it. The paper disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later with a new message written right underneath the first.
"You are lucky you got out when you did Asshole!" it read. "Why did you take two weeks to tell us you got home?"
"I want every one of the council and as many of the Maelstrom crew as will come in the council chambers in half an hour," Rodimus ordered.
"You can't be serious! We just got rid of you!" Optimus protested hotly. "Rodi - you need to rest! You are a danger to everyone here!"
Rodimus debated morphing back to robot mode to argue, but he was holding Edana's hand and was loathe to let it go. He had worried about his partner and the Autobots, but he had missed his children more than he thought possible. Edana, at least, seemed to understand how much seeing her meant to him. Alexandra was resting comfortably against Lancer's shoulder and he leaned in for a second to kiss her.
Then he turned back to his partner. "Let me repeat this slowly. We were gone for nearly a year. We were in an alternate or parallel universe. I just spent months cooped up in Carly's house with a humanized Magnus, Arcee, Springer and freaking HOT ROD! Not to mention Daniel Witwicky who progressed from nearly three to thirteen months of age while we were there!"
"Daniel?" Marissa cried.
"Hot Rod?" Magnus asked simultaneously.
"Right," Lancer said. "In Carly's house. So one more word about leaving again Optimus Prime and I am going to personally shove your head up your tail-pipe." She looked at her friends. "Guys, we need to be in on this one. I promise you, what we learned is relevant. You should all be there, even Robert. Pagan, even Kain will want to hear this, if you can get him to come. Tell him we may have found... clues that will get him home faster. Malice... Shellshock needs to come. He just needs to."
"This is all preposterous," Optimus said.
Rodimus ignored that and met Malice's uncertain eyes. "Malice, tell Shellshock I need him there. It's true. I need him there. Please... convince him to come. Half an hour....just to let us be with the girls and catch our breath. Claudia... Claudia should hole up with the kids." Rodimus sighed and hung his head. He looked at Magnus. "Get Spike. Get Kup."
"Spike doesn't want to come within a parsect of you!" Magnus said. "And I don't want to be within a parsect of Kup!"
"Tough shit all around," Rodi said. "Spike is still our liaison and he needs to hear this. Kup does too. Give me any lip about it and I'm taking eleven months of stress right out of your hull. I'm serious Mags. Get them. Half an hour."
Optimus was far from convinced his partner was telling the truth about being in a parallel universe, but for Rodimus to request Kup, Spike, and Shellshock all in one room was enough to convince Op something more than vacation-avoidance was going on. He fumed, but quit arguing.
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Lancer and Rodi headed for the council chamber, planning to take advantage of a few quiet minutes to spend with the girls. Edana saw her mother scanning her and Alex with the Jabez scanner, but that was nothing to wonder about. Both her parents did that to everybody. Lancer kept her face carefully neutral, but Edana felt the frown when her mother scanned her.
Alex fell asleep almost as soon as they were out of the noisy courtyard, but Edana was understandably confused.
"Mom, I thought you said you were going to be away for a while," she asked. She always looked to her mother for things involving scheduling and discipline - it was Lancer who decided such things as far as Edana could tell, but it was Rodi's hand she held.
Daddy wasn't around much, and when he was it was time to play.
"I did, 'Dana...and we were gone for quite a while in a way. We had a problem with the teleporter and to us we were gone a long time, but we got it to bring us back to you before you even missed us. Are... are you disappointed? You can still stay with Aunt Malice if you want. I don't think she'd mind and Evan likes it when you're there."
Edana shook her head, "Not if you and Daddy are home. You missed me."
Her parents exchanged glances and the young empath felt things transfer between them. She knew they were relieved to see her, worried about her, and mostly she felt how keenly they loved her. She wasn't old enough yet to really interpret what she felt, but to her worry and love went hand in hand. She didn't mind it.
"We did miss you, Lady Girl," Daddy told her. "But that doesn't mean you have to give up time with your friend."
"Evan's not really my friend Daddy. His heart is like Alex's. He's a baby, and he can't grow up even though he wants to," Edana said. "He likes me, but he makes me sad sometimes because he doesn't understand stuff and it makes him sad. I play with him so he won't be so sad."
Her parents exchanged another surge of thought between them. She always knew when they were communicating even though she couldn't hear them. There was a bond of energy she could see with her mutant eyes and the aura flared brighter on the side of the sending adult. It never dawned on her to comment on it. It was so much a part of them she assumed everyone saw them that way.
"That's nice of you to play with him," Rodimus said. He picked her up and put her on his shoulders since what was a short walk to an Autobot could be a real trek for a human, especially if they were only six. "I'm proud of you," he added.
That was unnecessary. She knew that already, but she didn't mind him telling her so. She laced her hands on top of his head and rested her chin on that while he walked. Edana felt how happy he was to be home, but also a sense of urgency he was trying to control, and the pain that was so much a part of him was very near the surface.
Nothing new there, except how fresh it seemed...like when she pulled off a scab before it was quite ready and the spot hurt even though it was mostly healed. She giggled when he bounced her and tried to make her happiness to be with him grow out of her and into him.
It worked, like a kiss on a scraped knee, and he reflected happiness back at her. It spread to Mom too, and they played their way to the shiny room by making sure no one saw them. She had to get down to work on her quiet walk and hiding, but she was small and she loved this game. Hiding from Autobots was easy anyway. Their feet made so much noise it was hard to see how they would ever hear her anyway - except for Daddy. Daddy was quiet. In spite of the noisy feet, Mom liked it when Edana practiced, so she did.
They made it to the conference room without being spotted and found it empty. Daddy went big for them so he could put them up on the table where the human seats were. She giggled when he picked her up and held onto his thumb by wrapping her arms and legs around it instead of stepping off like she was supposed to.
"Ew," he said. "What is this thing? It's all sticky and nasty! Get it off!" He shook his hand gently like she was a wad of gum he couldn't get rid of. Laughing, she clung tighter and managed to escape up to the side of his arm, clinging to the pipes that ran along it like a monkey. He plucked her off with two fingers and plopped her down in front of her mother.
"Do you know what this stuff is?" Rodimus asked his mate. He leaned on the conference table and morphed down. As soon as he pulled himself the rest of the way up, Edana attached herself to his leg. He lumbered slowly over to where Lancer sat, cuddling the baby.
"Not a clue. Looks like we'll need to put you through a car wash to get rid of it though. It seems fairly stuck."
"Maybe tar-remover would help?" Rodimus suggested thoughtfully.
"I dunno," Lancer returned. "I think it may take a fire-hose...or a paint scrapper."
Optimus wandered in a few minutes later and found his partner walking in circles with a hysterically giggling six-year old still clinging to his leg with all four limbs. Rodimus was making jokes about how he was never going to be able to move from this spot again as he could only make left turns. Lancer was laughing and talking to Alex about how silly her father and sister were.
Optimus paused on the threshold, thinking for a ridiculous instant he could retreat before they noticed him. He hated to break this moment up, and wondered, briefly, what the hell they had been thinking sending Rodimus on vacation away from his kids. The surge of affection he felt towards his young co-leader took him a bit by surprise, but he didn't question why that should be.
Just as Optimus was about to retreat back through the door and block all comers, Rodimus looked up and met his optics. Somehow Optimus sensed Rodimus knew that he was planning to stall the meeting.
Edana looked up at her father and gave his leg another hug. Time for grown-up stuff. She let go and went to Lancer's side, a tiny bit disappointed. She didn't pout exactly, but her smile was gone. Lancer kissed her and gave her a one-armed squeeze.
"When this is over," Lancer whispered in her daughter's ear, "we are going to kidnap Daddy and he is going to spend a week with you, because I said so. That's a promise."
Edana nodded and smiled. Lancer brushed the girl's wispy red locks out of her eyes.
"Well?" Rodimus asked, eyeing his partner.
"They are on their way," Optimus answered with a sigh. "Kup sounds incredulous, and I had to call Spike personally to get him here. He wasn't going to listen to Magnus." The Senior Prime professionally suppressed his annoyance at Rodi's question. Did Rodimus think he was incapable of calling a simple meeting together...even if some of those called hated Rodimus deeply?
Rodimus paused, stared piercingly at his partner and nodded.
"Don't be sad, Daddy," Edana said.
"Aw, geez Lady Girl," Rodimus said. He went over to his daughter and knelt in front of her. "I'm sorry. I'm happy to see you, and maybe...maybe Spike and I can learn to be friends again. That's part of what this meeting is for, OK?"
"Yeah. Will you come play with me when you are done?"
"If it isn't past your bedtime I will, and I'll come say goodnight even if it's really, really late. Deal?" Rodimus asked.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed for all she was worth. Six or no, she was Lancer's child, and all she was worth was pretty strong. Strong enough to make Rodi's eyes water.
Or something like that.
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A few heartbeats later, more grim-faced, worried, annoyed and aggravated grown-ups started to arrive. Their collective emotions started pressing on Edana's shields. She was getting pretty good at shielding and Claudia was doing the best she could to teach the girl, but Claudia's own empathy was damaged.
The skills she showed Edana were skills she no longer possessed.
For a child of six, Edana had done very well learning what Claudia could only describe, not demonstrate. Now though, there were too many people in the room, and to her empathic senses it was like a large crowd had descended to shout at her all at once. She only flinched a little, but her parents both saw, and the next thing she knew Aunt Pagan was there and it was time to kiss her parents goodbye again.
Just for a few hours though, this time.
Edana felt her mother's worry and thankfulness as Pagan took both girls and teleported them off to the Maelstrom where Claudia would watch them and help Edana work on those faltering shields.
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Pagan disappeared with the girls and Lancer turned to her mate, clinging to him somewhat desperately. Optimus shook his head, able to count on one hand the times he'd seen Lancer get emotional this way. Angry, sure. Vulnerable? Not so much. Maybe this "gone for a year" business wasn't as far fetched as it sounded.
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The council chamber had never been so crowded. In addition to the usual group, there was Kup, Spike, and the entire Maelstrom crew except for Claudia. Optimus had never even met Robert or Kain before, although it was Shellshock who, as always, captured his attention.
Nothing about the man spoke of Goldbug. Not one nuance or gesture.
He and Spike didn't even acknowledge each other. Hadn't they been best friends at one point? Optimus couldn't even remember if Spike had ever met Shellshock, and now...and now they were both shell-shocked.
They ran out of chairs, so Kain and Pagan chose to sit on the tabletop. Lancer sat on Rodi's shoulder. She had a tube of paper rolled up in her hand that she'd pulled from their luggage. Rodi stood. Magnus stood too.
Optimus had the distinct impression the City Commander was guarding Kup...or rather, guarding everyone else from Kup.
We're fragmenting, Optimus realized. In spite of our best efforts, we are losing each other. We need to heal these ruptures. Even me and Rodi - we've forgiven, but we haven't forgotten. Even now, this meeting scares me. What are you up to Partner-mine? I can't help it. I'm suspicious. Will I ever really trust you again?
People milled around, getting comfortable, and while they did Lancer handed Rodimus sheets of chart paper which he hung on the wall at the front of the chamber.
"Hey! That's my writing!" Marissa cried to no one in particular.
"Some of it's....mine?" Magnus answered her.
Once everyone was settled Rodimus turned to face the lot of them. They expected him to address them but instead he hung his head, then shook it.
Lancer got a funny, incredulous smile on her face.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Rodimus said. "OK everybody. Thanks for coming to our little party. If you haven't heard, we made it Florida for our vacation...just not this time or this dimension. We landed in a parallel universe and spent a long time there. We learned a lot - about ourselves, about our enemies, about all of you. All or none of it may be relevant. Most of it is disturbing in one way or another, but if nothing else I think there are leads worth pursuing here. They might even lead us to the Jabez."
There was a lot of muttering after that statement and he was content to let it die down while he fought with his better judgement and his honor to an uncomfortable promise.
"I...I um...Well...." Rodimus paused again.
"Oh if you're gonna do it just get it over with", Lancer prodded, still smiling.
Rodimus sighed, sagged, and finally squared his shoulders.
"I..um...promised our hosts that I would play this video before doing anything else. I haven't seen it either so I have no idea what atrocities they have visited upon me, but I'm sure, if nothing else, it should be... interesting."
"You haven't screened it?" Magnus asked incredulously.
"I promised not to," Rodimus said, very quietly.
"So when has that ever stopped you?" Magnus demanded. "Who the hell got you to make a promise like that?"
"Carly," Rodimus whispered. He started the video, just as Spike was surging to his feet, ready to storm out in a fury.
What he saw on the screen froze him in his tracks.
Himself...his wife...and an infant that could only be Daniel. They filled the wall behind Rodi's head. Sitting on a couch all together. The perfect little happy family. He wanted to kill someone, and he knew just which someone too.
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"Hi everybody," Carly said to the camera with an awkward wave. "Hopefully this really IS everybody and not just Rodimus breaking his word. Asshole, if it is just you go get them. Go get Spike. You promised. This isn't just about you or the Jabez...it's about Spike." She looked so beautiful and so very young.
"That's right," Spike on the screen said firmly. "Look, we don't know who's watching, but Magnus, if you are there, can you please make certain that flame-colored moron doesn't make a move to stop this tape before we're done? There are things you need to know I can just see him omitting 'for your own good' and we have all decided to scuttle his plans for martyrdom. If my twin isn't there, get him."
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Rodimus stopped the film. "Well that's enough," he said lightly.
"Give it," Magnus said, meaning the projection control.
Before a scuffle could ensue the video started up again.
"LANCER!" Rodimus roared. Sending a signal to a remote was something she had been able to accomplish since before she was even fully aware she was a mutant.
"You promised," she said.
"But..."
"Give it here Rodi," Elita said. She swiped it right out of his hand before he even knew she was up and moving. Lancer smiled. Elita had taken to assassin's training quite well.
The couple on the screen resumed speaking.
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"We need you to know that Lancer and Rodimus landed in our yard. We were playing host to four humanized Autobots and one Decepticon," Carly said. She then described how the whole gang had been changed and gave a brief background on their universe.
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"We're your PARENTS?!" Optimus interrupted at one point. Elita couldn't talk. She was pounding on the table in hysterics. Optimus merely looked shocked...and somewhat appalled.
"Try not to dwell on it," Rodimus sighed. He was too frightened by this video to join Elita laughing...and Magnus...and Marissa... Springer... Arcee... and dear God, Jazz.
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"When they landed, we were all suspicious of each other," Carly continued.
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The Spike from this dimension stared at her on-screen with tears of grief and fury rolling down his face. This beautiful, happy woman. Vibrant, intelligent past all belief, with such a heart-full of courage and compassion... reduced to a screaming shell with hollow, crazed eyes, and not even enough awareness to use a toilet.
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"They didn't tell us right away, what was happening in your dimension. They didn't tell us for a long time what happened to Daniel, but...Spike," Carly said, looking desperately into the screen as if to reach across space and time to make him hear her, "they did finally tell us."
Spike saw his twin nod. "They told us more than they told you...Me," the recorded Spike said. Then, as if he could see Rodimus surging towards the projector, the recording said, "SIT DOWN RODI! This is NOT about you! You think it is better that my twin never knows what happened to his son? I'M telling you, you are wrong! Magnus, Optimus! Somebody make him sit!"
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Magnus couldn't make Rodi sit, there weren't any chairs, but he could stand between the young Prime and the projection equipment. He needn't have worried.
"Make one move and I'll short your circuits, Love," Lancer said.
Rodimus curled up, crouching on the floor with his face behind his knees.
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Carly continued, tears running down her face. She looked at the baby in her arms and looked at the screen again. "Spike," she whispered. "I know you know Daniel was Converted. What Rodimus didn't tell you was that he was...molested by the Slavers that killed him. They filmed it, and then when they were done torturing and raping your little boy, they put one of those horrible chips in his head with orders to rape me...I mean...his mother too. The idea was to humiliate and punish your family, because your actions made it harder for slave-runners to do their evil work. They wanted Wheelie's convert to film that rape and they wanted all of those videos to get out and circulate so that you could never escape the images of your family being hurt."
She broke down a bit, and sobbed quietly on her husband's shoulder. Spike-on-screen pulled his wife close and kissed the top of her head. Then he turned back to the camera.
"I know...that you are grief-stricken, and that you blame Rodimus for everything, especially for Carly being insane. He screwed up. He should have gotten Carly to safety first, but it wasn't because he didn't care! He went into shock. He went after the chip because he couldn't stand it being in your son. If he hadn't been there it would have been worse! It would have been so much worse!"
"She has a chance, Spike. I know...what she saw broke her," Carly insisted, "But not as much as being raped by her own son would have, and then he would have killed her. Rodimus never told you about the tape, but he watched it, I think he may have memorized it so he could find the people responsible. He did find them, by the way, and that was the end of them."
Her husband took over again. "Look...we figured out Rodimus really fast once he got here. At first, he wouldn't go anywhere near our son, but once he did it was like Danny was one of his own...or attached to his arm. He loves this little guy, and he loved your son too. You know that. That's why you feel so betrayed. Don't you see? He loved your son - and that's why his hand moved before he could think. If I...if I found someone I loved with bruises like that everywhere and a micro-chip in their head...I don't know that I'd take the time to come up with an elaborate plan either."
"It doesn't matter," Carly said fiercely, looking almost angry suddenly. "He made a mistake but it doesn't matter. Even if he did it on purpose you have to stop hating him so much. I want you to! Not for him, for you Spike! Well...for him too, but mostly for you. Your wife doesn't have a voice anymore, so I will give her one! Quit it! It isn't healthy! It isn't good for you! You can be angry and hurt and sad, but give the hate up! It hurts you and I want you to stop! I can't stand the thought that you might spend the rest of your life that way. If I could, I'd come over there just to shake some sense into you! She wouldn't want you to hate Spike! You know that! Not even the slavers! Not even the Jabez! Hating won't make her better! It might even make her worse, and it won't make what happened to Danny go away. You deserve better...and for that matter Rodi does too! He does the best he can...he's not perfect, he's not omniscient. He's just Rodi...and he does the best he can!"
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Spike sobbed. Horrible, shuddering sobs of horror, rage, and over-whelming grief. Marissa ran to his side and tried to hug him, but he pushed her away. His face was blotchy, ashen, and furious.
On screen, his twin continued.
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"There's more to it also. The stuff we learned about Vector Sigma while they were here...it might help you understand, how this got so out of hand in the first place.. I know he was planning on telling you guys most of it, but we are worried he'll leave part of it out," Spike said. Then he looked at the camera and smiled a bit. "Sorry you promised yet Rodi? Lancer told Carly not to take too much advantage of the fact you can't say no to her... do you think this counts as too much? Consider it payback for all those cracks about my computer...and my swimming pool!"
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"You guys are just lucky you're in another dimension," Rodimus growled into his knees. He couldn't stand up. He couldn't face the room. He couldn't face Spike who was still shuddering with emotion. At least the awful, wracking sobs settled down. Spike stared at the door, obviously thinking about leaving again, but after a long moment he went back to his chair. Marissa followed him, and giving Talon a meaningful stare, got the former EDC explosives expert to switch seats.
Marissa took Spike's hand. He didn't look at her, but he didn't pull away either.
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On screen another, familiar voice from behind the camera said, "Just be glad by the time he sees this he'll be in another dimension Spike." Magnus.
"Is it our turn?" Marissa said, coming into the picture. Carly scooted over and patted the seat next to her. Marissa sat, and took the baby from Carly. She turned him to face the screen and waved his little hand at the camera.
"Say hi, Danny," she said. "Are you coming over too or what?" she asked. The camera wobbled a little.
"I'm just tightening the tripod," Magnus' voice informed her.
"Well don't overdo it!" Spike said. "It needs to come off some time too!"
"Fine," Magnus said, stomping over to the couch. There was no way he was fitting on it so he went around the back and leaned on it behind Marissa.
"While they were here," Marissa said, "Rodimus had a little breakthrough. That lovely death-wish he's been fostering, and this stupid idea you all seem to have that he's some kind of robotic child playing dress-up with the grown-ups...that all comes from Vector Sigma. It plants ideas in people it wants to control, and that idea was a way of keeping Rodimus under control. Of course now Rodi uses that to get away with things he normally wouldn't so we wanted to make sure that while he was cleaning house for all of you, that the notions he finds advantageous go too. In other words..."
"Quit falling for his crap!" Ultra Magnus snarled.
"Well, I wasn't going to put it so bluntly," Marissa said.
"These people are brain-washed! You have to be blunt!" Magnus said. "Quit falling for his crap! That goes double for you Ultra Magnus! The very thought that ANY version of me is eating that line of never-ending bullshit is so embarrassing I want to hurt someone! Preferably you...Me. He kept trying idiotic lies on me and always looked so damned surprised when I didn't go for it! Are you that stupid?"
"Magnus!" Marissa cried. "That's not nice!"
Magnus blinked at her, "Who said anything about being nice? Anyone gullible enough to fall for that shit over and over doesn't deserve Nice, Marissa! That goes for you too Optimus! And the rest of you! Garbage detail in the human sector! That's what they deserve! So they'll know shit when they see it!"
"Now they're glad you are in another dimension Magnus!" Spike said. Carly snickered.
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Rodimus looked up from the floor at the screen. "With friends like these," he muttered.
"I see you made as good of an impression as always!" Magnus said to him. "What did you tell my twin? Why is he acting like this?"
Rodimus opened his mouth to find a way to pass this off as no big deal when the video went on with complicating his life.
Continued in Part B