This is a short (and I mean short) Oneshot that came to me soon after finishing "Queen Of the Machine." For those of you who haven't finished or read the series, try and stay with me on this one. It will make sense...if you squint.
Anywho, I never really thought that I touched up on one simple fact when portraying Mikaela Banes and Trina Garrison together. Yes, they are the Badass Sisters (Figuratively) but that doesn't mean they'll always have each other.
So, onward with the fic. I don't own Transformers, just Trina Garrison and several others. Oh, and don't forget to leave a review.
"What is death?"
Mikaela Banes looked up from her data pad and met the twinkling eyes of the human before her. She stood, arms crossed over her chest, multicolor hair all astray upon her head.
That look was normal for Trina Garrison. This attitude was not.
She had healed over time, her face now it's normal smooth stature instead of a mottled array of cuts and bruises. Though the battle with the Brotherhood of Man was long ended, everyone was still trying to process the deaths that had occurred through it. Trina was one of many who could have joined the list of the dead, but ultimately hadn't.
So, that said, she should have had a pretty good idea of what death was. She'd avoided it more than once.
But why was she asking?
"I don't understand the question," Mikaela murmured, scanning the data pad once more. She sat in the medical bay, on one of the many unoccupied berths. Trina peered up at her and then raised an arm, and indication that she wanted up.
Mikaela gingerly lifted Trina and placed her against the cool metal, letting her lean back against her hip.
"I mean, for a Cybertronian. How long do you guys live?" Trina bit her lip thoughtfully. "What exactly is death for you guys?"
"A common occurrence, that's for sure."
"But the war is over," she pointed out. "Megatron is up circling the stars. Starscream is….well….you know how that all went down. Barricade is dead. Fisher is dead as a doornail and we're sitting here, waiting everything out…."
"This is about your birthday, isn't it?"
Of course. Mikaela should have seen it coming. Trina was close to adulthood, twenty- one going on twenty- two, but still. In Mikaela's eyes, that was still a baby. In human eyes, that was past almost every age barrier there was.
Trina was, naturally, a secluded person. Despite her preppy demeanor she still had the audacity to keep things to herself, especially after everything she had endured. That, in itself, wasn't a bad thing but when it came to issues like this…
"Trina, there's no harm in growing up."
"That's easy for you to say because you aren't growing at all," Trina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just think about it. In three days, I'll be a year older. And then another year. And then another and another. What happens then, huh, Mikaela? We're the Badass Sister's. Plural, not singular. Always plural."
"Old can be badass, too. Take Ratchet for example. The mech has a bite but when the time comes, he can kick some serious aft."
Trina's eyes flickered upward and she gave a small smile. "Yeah," she looked back down. "Yeah, but that's Ratchet. Not me. I'm not a war hardened medic like he is. He's not even on the end of his line yet, Mikaela. I don't want to reach my end. Been there, done that."
Mikaela stared down at her with pitying eyes.
"And I guess it's just me. I mean, everyone grows old. Your species grows old. Just…really, really slowly," Trina scratched her head. "And I guess that's a good thing."
Mikaela set down the data pad and shifted a little so Trina had to turn and meet her optics. Mikaela mouth was pulled into a grimace and she gently pressed a finger against the humans back, letting her ease into the warm embrace.
"In what way, Trina?" Mikaela said softly. "I'll have to be a witness. I'll have to watch you all age and die. And not just you…I've lost humans in the past year that I never wanted to lose. My father. Lennox and Epps. Graham. Jackson and Sanderson," Mikaela wiped her optics absently. "But I still have you and, believe it or not, Sam is still out there somewhere, flying a desk, getting sores over shit that doesn't matter. And you know what? I'll see him again probably, and have to watch him age. Watch his children age. I don't want that."
Silence. It hung in the air like a thick veil and Mikaela could only sit back, shuddering her optics.
"I know it's hard," Trina whispered, after a long breath "But you're one of a kind, Mikaela Banes, and I'm happy for you. You got to live. I would have wanted that."
"It wasn't my choice."
"But it was a good choice," she answered. "Ratchet made the right decision choice, doing what he did. Placing you in her body. You'll get to see things, Mikaela, that I'll never get to see. And when I'm old and frail and having trouble getting up the stairs, you'll get to look back and say, damn, she sure used to be a badass. It's a shame that she…."
Trina trailed off.
"What?" Mikaela said softly.
"It's a shame that she wasn't in that car with you."