Chapter two: Landed
Earth. 23rd September 2005.
Samuel James Witwicky jerked awake as someone else's hand poked him right under the ribs- and quite unkindly, too.
Uuhh…what now? He thought, blinking, as he slowly lifted his head from the desk. For a moment he didn't even recognize where he was, details slowly linking together.
Click. Ok, that was…yes, Chemistry class. He hated Chemistry with all his heart. And education in general, starting from the fact that because of the school he couldn't stay at home and try to get some decent sleep.
Click. All thirty-one desks occupied by someone, except the one before them- Trent sat at the opposite corner and had somehow dragged the entire class toward him, letting them alone. Too bad he didn't know that Sam was more than happy to be left out, once in a while.
Click. Miles scribbling something. Probably thinking to another comics.
Click. Trent slipping fingers in the back pocket of his new chick's jeans. Probably not thinking at all since he didn't have a brain.
Click. Mikaela- ow!
Sam shot a look at his girlfriend, eyeing her short, black nails to be sure there weren't other attacks incoming. "What was that for?" he whined in a whisper, rubbing his now sore side.
Mikaela picked up a pencil and pressed its point on the sketchbook's page, light blue eyes returning on the blackboard: "Put on an intelligent expression and pretend to be interested." She whispered back, lowering to write something.
Sam glanced sleepily in the same direction and became wide awake as he met Mr. Ruffo's Decepticon-like stare.
"Mr. Witwicky, something's wrong?"
" Uh…no, sir."
The professor, grey eyes fixed on Sam- who swallowed-, quirked an eyebrow. " Really? For a moment I thought you weren't listening to a single word I was saying." He barked.
Creak. Trent twisted in his seat to turn toward him and smirked, chewing on his gum with mouth almost wide open.
" I…er…I was just reading the…the last…" Something connected with his elbow and Sam instinctively glanced down- on the note that had magically appeared on Mikaela's sketchbook. The boy cleared his throat. "Yes, the last paragraph of the nomenclature of organic chemistry." He completed.
Mr. Ruffo didn't look so convinced, but turned again and resumed his explanation from the point he had left it. Sam let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Have I already told you that I love you? He scribbled on the corner of his own book.
Mikaela rolled her eyes, but even as her features twitched in a light smile her eyes remained veiled: "Only because I've just saved your ass. " she replied sighing.
Sam smirked and leaned back on the desk, placing his chin on his forearms. There were small dark points dancing in front of him, like tiny pieces of burned paper. He shook them off with a shrug, trying to concentrate on the speech of the professor. A few second later he huffed, deciding that he couldn't bear the gaze that kept burning his neck's back, and turned again to face Mikaela: "What?" he asked.
The brunette shook her head, featured now marked with concern, but didn't look away.
" You didn't take the sleeping pills, did you?"
Sam pondered for a moment the answer, just to take time- he knew too well that trying to lie would only make things worse.
"No." he admitted forcefully.
Mikaela chewed the small gum on the top of the pencil, leaving tiny marks on the pink surface. When she spoke, her voice was quite stern. "Any particular reason?"
" I can't sleep anyway. They don't work."
" Then why didn't you tell Ratchet?"
Sam snorted. " He's already busy with setting his med bay ! " he protested, pushing the idea off his mind. "Plus, Bee is still at the HQ waiting for a check-up. More work for Ratchet. I didn't want to bother."
" Bother? Bother? Come on, Sam…what about your parents? I don't think they're happy to see you more and more similar to a zombie every day!"
It had been three months from the battle of Mission City- Sam had thought it would be enough, that the trauma would have run dry for the start of the new school years, but he wasn't so lucky. After three damn months Megatron was still hunting him down in the streets and Barricade kept on sending him flying around in the car junkyard. After three damn months he was still hiding it- keep it to yourself, pretend that everything is ok, no mum, I just fell from the bed.
Unbearable.
Sam's gaze fell on the girl at his side. Mikaela's lips were thin lines. She relaxed on her chair, looking straight to the blackboard, but the tension in her body didn't want to melt away- muscles tensed and jaw tightly shut were sufficient to prove it.
Wow. Congratulations, idiot. You just sent your girlfriend in angsty mood.
Yep. Being unable to explain- and more importantly to get over- the nightmares was frustrating. Seeing the brave, strong young woman that had fought along with Bumblebee getting worried and worried for his lack of sleep was worse.
He gently put his hand on the desk and let it slide toward Mikaela's arm.
"Look, 'Kaela...I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be bothered by it at all, I shouldn't have-"
TWACK.
An absolutely annoyed Mr. Ruffo twisted with a creak of new, starched shoes: "Another sound from back there and I'll send you out." He groaned, before starting to write again on the blackboard.
Sam turned, completely ignoring the notes that he should have started to copy, and stared agape at Mikaela, whose hand was still balled into a fist around the pencil that she had stabbed a mere inch from his fingers.
"…'Kaela?..."
The girl didn't look up, features twisted in a sneer. " Sorry, got carried away." She muttered darkly.
"The hell were you thinking??! "
Mikaela hissed through her teeth " To stick a wrench up the tailpipe of some fucking pile of scrap metal. That's it. "
Sam fell silent and pulled his hand at safe distance. "Er…pile of scrap…?" he risked, after a moment of pause.
"Yes. The bastard responsible for your insomnia first."
Will Lennox had once said that, even if more fragile than the men, women were often the most dangerous to confront with- and as the class got quiet, Sam couldn't help but smiled. Consider yourself lucky, Megatron, at least you're already dead- he thought to himself. Even the mighty Decepticon leader would have looked much less scary with an enraged human female equipped with a chainsaw at his heels.
" You're starting to pick up more from Ratch than just mechanical's skills." He commented.
Mikaela closed her eyelids and huffed lightly, dark, curly hair falling from her shoulder as she pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly.
" Speaking of Ratchet, I'm pretty sure you know that he's gonna slaughter you if he finds out that you're in lack of sleep." She observed, and smirked when her boyfriend shuddered at the sudden thought of a very angered CMO brandishing a wrench in each hand. " And I'm not gonna save your ass from him, Sam. Be sure of that, if you keep avoiding those damn pills."
" Told you it's not my fault if they don't work." Was the muttered answer.
The brunette shrugged " So? There are still the old remedies. You know, chamomile and stuffs."
Sam grunted something incoherent, then his face lit up in a grin.
" Does sleeping with a sniper girlfriend count as remedy?"
Mikaela snorted and started playing with the pencil again, a soft smile on her lips.
The vibracall of her cell phone was vibrating in the front pocket of her bag so hard that it seemed a nest of wasps, but Cassandra ignored it and tried to concentrate on the book in front of her.
You can call all you want…you can't make me stop studying…she chanted softly to herself, then snorted and forcefully threw her attention on the lines.
It was only her first day at Tranquillity High. Why the hell was the damn psycho robot calling her already? What was he expecting? To find Witwicky and become he's best friend in five minutes?
Cassie flipped page, rubbing her stomach. The robot…what's the bloody thing called? Starscream? Right. How original…Starscream seemed to prefer to poke her right in the gut, so most of the bruises were concentrated all around her bellybutton- and they ached like hell. Feeling the painful stings that ran up her body whenever she moved was strange. Almost disturbing, as much as looking in the mirror and seeing her right eye a pale, shadowed pink. Blind.
Cassie let a hand slip on her enclosed eyelid, feeling the small protuberance of the scar that lined it. The first day after the incident in the cave she couldn't even open it; the day after she'd regained sight, but it was like having a film over the eye. Fortunately the red colouration of the iris faded with the distance from Starscream- her mother would have freaked out even more seeing it practically glowing red like a lamp…
Bzzz-Bzzz.
Again the vibracall.
Cassandra got up, threw the Divine Comedy in the bag and marched out of the cafeteria with a sneer on her face, heading for the toilets. She entered, checked for other students and, once sure she was alone, she let out a long sigh, picking up her phone.
Okay. Here we go…now, some dignity, ok? You can do this. He's only a super advanced being from outer space ready to crush you, right? Couldn't be worse than the Math teacher. Right. Who am I kidding? She pressed the button to accept the call.
Starscream's rasping voice was already spitting venom at the other end of the line, without waiting: "Think you can ignore me, human?" he hissed irritably.
Cassie's gaze wandered around while she chewed on her bottom lips: "I was in class." She lied. "Studying."
" Spare me your excuses. I expect you to answer immediately. Am I clear?"
Jerk. Complete, complete jerk. "Yes." No matter how, he always found a way to get on her nerves.
"Yes what?"
Her throat knotted and a fit of anger surged in her stomach. Fuck you, you ugly, despotic monster-fuck you, you, you.- the idea to spat this at him was tempting. So much tempting that for a moment she took a deep breath, ready to shout what she thought of him and his arrogance and- yeah, and then finding her home demolished?
"Yes-Lord-Starscream." she muttered through gritted teeth. She could perfectly picture him: disgustingly satisfied for his title.
" Good. Now, have you found the target?"
" I verified this morning…he's in my same history and literature class." Cassie admitted forcefully. She felt another wave of disgust and frustration, against him and herself. If she had the gut to do it, she would have refused to endanger another human, and to hell the rest.
" Do not approach him, for now. Stay back and observe him and his mate. I believe it is not a difficult task even for a fleshbag."
Cassie snorted but didn't comment: "That's all?" she asked.
" Keep an eye on the city. There are others Cybertronians disguised in the area. I cannot sense them, but you will do it for me."
Other Cybertronians? As it, other psychotic giant robots?
" Wait…how do I recognize them? Disguised as what?"
He huffed. " All of us can take the form of a vehicle. I will give you the details about what you will need to look after this evening. For the moment, the only one you have to worry about is a modified Mustang Saleen cop car. If you see him, stay away. Turn around and don't look back."
Mustang…cop car…
Something clicked.
"Barricade?"
Silence.
" Where have you heard his name?" Starscream demanded, his voice dripping suspicion.
Cassandra shivered. She didn't know how the name had slipped out of her lips- where it had come from. It just came, spontaneous like she knew it from forever, and taking along a nervous feeling.
"I don't know. Wasn't him…" she paused, closing her eyes. "…one of your comrades? The one you spoke about on…on…Cybertron?" she gingerly touched her lips. Now she could remember- it was something she had already heard.
Starscream audibly relaxed: " I assume you know this because of the vision you had from our meeting." He said simply, even if there was a note of sourness in his tone.
" It's not my fault."
" I didn't say that. Transfer of information is one of the common aspects of a bond." He snapped. His voice softened in a thoughtful hum. "Irritating it is, but an useful ability if used the right way."
I don't want any of your memories inside my head, thank you very much. Cassie shuddered at the thought, her fingers tightening around the phone: "Why should I keep away from this Barricade if he's with you?"
"He's not."
"But…"
"Keep in mind only this, human: when I said you have to consider yourself lucky to be at my mercy, I wasn't joking. Should Barricade catch you, he would tear you apart right after using you to find me. "
The idea of something worse than Starscream was terrorizing. Cassandra felt goose bumpers rising on her skin and let out a breath to calm herself: "Got it."
" Good. You are dismissed."
Click.
Cassie lowered her arm slowly, watching the display of her cell fading to black.
One alien robot wasn't enough. She thought bitterly. Now I must watch out from the evil police car, too.
Outside, the bell rang. The girl gathered her bag and left the toilet, ignoring the protests of her empty stomach. Watching the crowd of young girls and boys flowing in the corridors, she tried to imagine how would her life be if she hadn't go for a walk, that evening. Just as another students here, I suppose. How lucky. I get to go to the USA for a year abroad and what? I stumble across a warrior alien robot with a pride complex. I really hope that no one gets to experience something like this...
With a sigh, she pushed away the thought and headed for the next class. Literature, if I recall correctly. I really hope that Mrs Connelly isn't like my previous teacher.
Earth. That night.
Raphael Finnegan caught his best friend before the young girl could fall on the damp ground covered in leaves, and groaned. "You know that this is absolutely crazy, right? " he asked, rather annoyed.
She shrugged, blonde streaks dangling as she gently freed herself from his grip. " God, you're such an old grumpy sometimes…" she commented with a smile, picking up the torch that had slipped from her grasp. "…what's wrong to go walking? It's not even midnight!"
"It's not that, I just don't understand why are you so obsessed with the stars. -" the boy cut off the sentence, ducking to avoid a branch. Twigs and leaves brushed against the back of his neck. He shivered and angrily wiped them off. " Aren't we a bit too grown up for this? I mean, I hang out with you since we were six, and you still keep going out almost every night!"
The brunette giggled quietly: " And you didn't get used to it yet?"
Raphael rolled his eyes, but his mouth twitched in a smirk. He reached out and picked a leaf from her hair. " Considering that I'm ready to fall asleep right here and now…nope, Jadie." he replied.
Jade Rivers shook her head and reached out to take his friend by the forearm. "Come on, I want to show you the place I found last week."
"You went out without me?"
" Hey, you had fever, remember? I didn't want to drag you out there while you were sick."
" It wasn't this big problem. I could have gotten outside without dying."
" Oh? I thought you find star-gazing childish." She shot back.
" Who said I was serious?...how far is your new discover, anyway?"
"Turn left. There's a hill near, we must go up there."
The two of them continued for a bit. Jade was chatting softly about school- a foreign girl had arrived the same day, an half- Italian brunette that seemed a couple of year younger than all of them even being seventeen and one eye blind ("She said to the teacher that she has had an accident the first day she has gotten here. I'm sorry for her…") – and Raphael answered every now and then, quietly enjoying both her voice and the silence that surrounded them. True, he was born and raised in the middle of a metropolis before his father had decided to move, but he preferred nature to the city – and even if he pretended to be tired, he loved the sounds that echoed in the night: the chirrups of the cicadas, still presents at that time of the year, the frogs from the small pools here and there outside the periphery, silence…
…too much silence. He realised suddenly. There was something strange, this night. No cicadas, no frogs, no owls, just some soft blow of wind that made wavering the branches of the three.
Usually it's like this only when there's gonna be a storm. He thought to himself.
" Look, we're out." Jade murmured, hazel eyes pointed to the shadow boundary between the small patch of woods and the open lands. She surpassed a couple of bush and stepped on the grass, looking around. She smiled, joy playing in her iris, before she looked up. " There must be a fantastic moon, is like being under th-"
Raphael felt himself shivering, without knowing why. He knew Jade too well and knew that the blank expression that was slowly appearing on her face wasn't there to pull a prank on him: either she had seen something beautiful, or something terrorizing. He dashed out of the wood, worried.
"Jade? Jade, what is it? Why have you stopped?"
The girl didn't answer for a second, her sight never leaving the dark sky. Then, slowly, she pointed up. "-light."
Raphael followed her motion. He couldn't help but felt a wave of fear and awe passing through his body.
Up above them, there was something huge, something pure white, brighter than a star.
And it was falling.
On the cliffside, Barricade turned off his lights and stared at the trail of fire that the protoform left behind as it descended and made impact on the small valley that extended in front of him.
It seems he managed to arrive. He sneered to himself. I was not expecting him to succeed, being the pathetic Autobot he is. Skyfire the pacifist! Never heard of something more vile and disgusting. I wonder why Starscream used to partner with him back on Cybertron. Probably the same reason that urged that idiot to betray us.- a fit of burning anger rushed through the Saleen.
The protoform began unfolding with slowness. Barricade could see the wounds on the pure white of Skyfire's armor from where he was.
He won't go far with all those damage. Probably Prime and his team have already picked up his signal. It would have been better to retreat, for the moment. He had plenty of time to gather informations and to stay would only have alerted the Autobot of his presence. He started his engine and was about to pull away from the cliff, when he saw them. A glimpse of heat signature.
Look what we have here...
The humans were two, huddled in the grass on the small hill that separated the valley from the rest of the wood. A male and a female, both very young – both watching as the impressive shape of Skyfire raised from the crater he had caused and painfully fold back into his alt-mode, a sleek Cybertronian jet much bigger than every other aircraft he had ever seen.
Barricade snorted. Stupid insects. Always getting in the way. He took a picture of each and saved them. The female was agitated, her face contracted in an expression of astonishment and wonder. Fear was totally absent.
Not good, my dear… you should be afraid. But never mind: there's still time, and I'll take care of it.
The Decepticon returned on the road, leaving the couple to their magic encounter.
It will be a pleasure to see fear into those beautiful eyes of yours…
Author's note: Hello again. I apologize for updating this so late, but I've had a lot to go through in this period- school being only one of the various reasons. I'll try to be as regular as possible, I promise =(. other than this, I wanted to thank the reviewer that commented so kindly the first chapter and all the people who put this story in their favourites or on story alerts. I really appreciate it =) please let me know what do you think of this second chapter.
P.s: Raphael Jay Finnegan is my other OC, born just a few days ago. I hope you will like him as well. ^^