Disclaimer: I do not own anything Transformer related nor am I making any profit from this story. Any original characters and/or settings belong to me and permission is needed from me before using any OC's/plot that I am currently writing as I have worked hard on the creation of this tale. Any similarities to other works of fan fiction are purely unintentional.
Pairings: Mikaela/ Ratchet, Sam/Bumblebee, Sunstreaker/Maggie/possibly ?, OC/Barricade and Starscream/Alexis.
Warning: Disturbing content in this story. You have been warned.
Trials of Hell
Chapter Two
"I told ye already mon! That idiot was the one causing the ruckus! I dinna know why ye insist on holding any o' us here besides that mon!"
The agent in charge of her questioning just stared at the irate Irish woman passively. Growling in exasperation, Aislinn Chase cradled her head in her hands. She had been here for almost an hour already while this asshole pulled her travel records and obtained the pitifully small list of family and friends she had here in the States.
By god, she was going to kill Samuel Witwicky when he got here! If not for his tardiness to begin with none of this mess would have happened and she wouldn't be sitting here with this Men-In-Black impersonator. She had every intention of paying him back and then some for the humiliation she was currently enduring.
The door opened and another suited man approached the pasty faced idiot who was currently just staring at her. A few whispered words were exchanged between the two men and both hurried out of the room. One eyebrow was raised in curiosity as she kicked up her jean clad legs on the metal table and eyed the folder that had seemingly been forgotten on the table. Snorting quietly, she rolled her eyes. They would have to do better than that if they wanted to catch her in some sort of illegal act. Though why taking a look at her own file would be considered illegal she had no idea but she knew better than to even try.
She wondered how the feisty Australian had made out. Probably the same as herself, if not worse. She had caught a glimpse of the extensive bruising that had already marred the beautiful blonde's neck while they were being led away. Hopefully they gave her some ice for her split lip and puffy cheek. Though given the lack of courtesy she personally had been shown so far, she highly doubted the blond woman would warrant it.
The door opened again and she saw the same blank faced agent enter. Behind him stood a tall man with a scar on his face splitting his left eyebrow. Behind him she caught sight of the sheepish figure of her cousin. She leapt to her feet and dove towards him with the intent to harm not caring of the consequences.
"I'm gonna kill ye Sammy! This is all yo' fault!"
She shouted as the brawny companion of the youngest Witwicky held her back firmly.
"Now Ace…I know you are mad right now and you have every right to be, but can we please discuss this somewhere else?"
Fists clenched, the enraged woman managed a curt nod. She felt the steel grip of Sam's companion let go at her acquiesce. Heart thumping loudly she ignored the muted conversation between the three men as she focused on keeping her breathing regular.
"Given the similar statements from Miss Madsen and Mr. Whitmann, you are free to go Miss Chase. I don't ever want to see your face in my airport again. Am I clear?"
She bit back the retort on the tip of her tongue and only nodded briefly, her grey eyes burning holes at the smug agent. Feeling Sam tug on her arm gently she left the room she had been detained in and made her way down the corridor. As the trio exited the security wing the raven haired woman caught sight of the blond Australian and her large friend who appeared to be waiting for them.
"Look 'Hide! There's Maggie and Glen! What do you know, that jerk kept his word."
"You know them?" Aislinn piped up confused.
"Yeah, I do. I met them a couple of years ago and our paths just kept crossing. It's become a regular thing to hang out with them every couple weeks or so." Sam kept his voice light.
Shaking her head in disbelief, the petite Irish woman just muttered under her breath.
"Mags! You look terrible!" A shadow crossed over the young man's face momentarily betraying his worry to anyone paying close attention.
"Thanks Sam." The Australian croaked painfully, wincing as she rubbed her neck gingerly. Catching sight of Aislinn, the beautiful blond perked up. "I am so glad you are okay. Thank you for your help earlier."
"Oh, no problem. The creep had it coming. I mean what kind of jerk chokes a woman he doesn't even know?" The two women smile at each other in understanding. The first step towards a foundation of friendship was being molded.
"Well I guess I should introduce you. Guys, this is Aislinn Chase, and Ace this is Maggie Madsen, Glen Whitmann and Ironhide."
"Ironhide?"
"Yeah, he was or rather is in the military. It's a code name of sorts." Sam let out a short nervous laugh.
"Don't worry about it little lady. We have an odd assortment of friends." Glen broke in smoothly.
"Shall we leave now Sam?" Maggie asked hoarsely eager to be away from the airport which suited the youngest Witwicky just fine. He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw Ironhide keeping alert behind them.
"It'll be a tight fit but we should all be able to squeeze into the truck. Come on guys, this way."
"No prob Sam, a friend of my cousin's left us his ride and was gonna pick it up later so we'll just bounce outta here in that and meet up with you at Prime's." Glen said with a pointed look.
"You sure?" The teen asked slowly, his face masked to appear indifferent.
"Yeah man. We'll be fine. Might stop and grab some food and some ice for Mags, but we'll be there."
"Yeah, Ok man. Be careful." He gave a little fist bump to Glen before patting Maggie gingerly on the arm.
He watched as his two friends walked away wondering if he should have stopped him. No he should just let them go. No one else, well no other human, knew of the latest Intel about the Decepticons and he planned to keep it that way.
Even though he had a feeling deep in his gut that the attack on Maggie and by default Ace was no random one.
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Lights. Red and white.
Slowly the world came back into view albeit very fuzzy. Sound rushed into her ears and her breath hitched with panic as she made out the sound of voices.
"Can you hear me? I am a medic and am here to help you."
Amber irises stared out from half lidded eyes as she struggled to respond.
"I…I…I…h..hear you."
She started shivering from a burning cold feeling that seemed to originate from her very bones. Blinking rapidly she struggled to move.
"No!"
The shout scared her so badly that she fell back in fear.
"No, do not move until I can access the damage."
"O…O…Okay." She said dumbly, noticing that the world was coming into sharper focus. She was able to make out a handsome man around thirty with a goatee. He had brilliant blue eyes which stared at her in concern. She focused on those eyes as a lifeline.
Pain wracked her senses as she struggled to maintain a normal breathing pattern. With every breath she took she felt sharp agony in her lungs. The urge to cough was strong and she had a sinking feeling that doing so would be a bad idea. Movement on her right drew her attention and she shifted her eyes to see a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in the uniform of a rescue squad member. Aqua eyes met hers, filled with concern and compassion.
It had been such a long time since anyone looked at her like that. Like she was worth something. Not since her best friend moved five years ago had anyone cared about her. The orphan who was alone in the world.
She closed her eyes and felt tears seep out from beneath her lids. Unable to suppress her cough reflex, the young woman turned her head to the side and let out the heavy cough that clawed at her throat. She was not surprised to feel fluid project violently from her mouth and into her shoulder length hair. She stared in horror at the red flecks that stained the brightly lit asphalt around her. An unwanted thought occurred to her.
She was going to die.
The pain in her small body was overwhelming and the coldness increased to a point where she was numb. She felt darkness cloud the edges of her vision.
"T…T…Tell h…her I…I am…s…s…sorry."
The beautiful brunette with the aqua eyes crouched down to look her in the eye.
"Tell who?" She asked gently.
"M…M…My f…f…friend. A…A…isl……"
She was tired of struggling. For too many years she had survived just to make it in this cold world alone. No longer. She was tired, so tired. She let the darkness overtake her and welcomed the sweet oblivion that followed.
Maybe things would be better on the other side.
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"No, not that one!" Maggie exclaimed in frustration.
"Damn girl! You choose then!" Glen said relinquishing his hold on the dial of the radio in the ancient Datsun. They had been arguing over the radio since the left the airport a half hour ago.
Muttering about white girls and their taste in music, the large man kept his eyes on the road as the Australian tried to steer and turn the dial on the crappy stereo.
"May good fortune be with you,
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or vagabond…"
"Ooooh…I adore this song!" His blond companion said before singing loudly.
Mentally rolling his eyes, Glen just let Maggie belt out the words although it sounded as if it was painful for her. Complain as he might, this white girl could sing, abused throat or not, and it was a good song. Though he would never admit that out loud.
"And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young, Forever young."
Approaching the exit off of the freeway, Maggie moved over to the off ramp and when they finally pulled to a stop at the lights at the end, they both were singing loudly along with the song.
"Forever young, Forever young!"
The beautiful blond uncapped her water bottle and took a small sip to cool her burning throat. Angry that she most likely set back the full function of her voice a few days, she was strangely satisfied at being able to belt out an old Rod Stewart song.
And not sound like a bullfrog.
She was suddenly thrust out of her thoughts as they were slammed into from behind with such force that they were sent careening through the intersection, narrowly missing a lone minivan that just honked their horn at them before speeding up and disappearing from sight.
"Shit!" She exclaimed trying to regain control of the car as they spun around. Glen held on for dear life as he tried to see who had rammed into them. A telephone pole was kind enough to stop their momentum as they spun into it badly crumpling the driver's side front quarter panel.
"Damn man, Roger is gonna kick my ass!" He said as they finally came to a stop both breathing heavily.
Maggie's knuckles were white from her grip on the steering wheel. The two computer whizzes slowly exited the car to look at the damage, the blond having to exit through the passenger side.
"Wait, your cousin's name is Roger?" The Australian asked with shaky humor as they both assessed the damage to the old Datsun.
"Yeah." Glen said distractedly blinking heavily behind his thick glasses as he glanced up and down the eerily deserted street. For the time of night being only around 9:30 pm, it seemed odd that there was no one in sight. A shiver ran down the large man's back.
"Mags, something ain't right here."
The beautiful blond understood her friend's meaning. It was quiet, too quiet. The events of this evening weighed heavily on her. She absently touched the right side of her neck where her tattoo was usually hidden by her long hair and felt the hotness of the bruised tissue, the result of her earlier attack.
"Maybe we should call one of the guys. We can't really hope to get this hunk of junk running with the amount of damage done."
"Yeah, okay. I got this. I'll call Sergeant Epps."
Nodding her head as Glen whipped out his cell phone she hoped that either the Sergeant or Captain Lennox would be available. After having officially formed the diplomatic council for the Cybertronians, the two men and their team had been stationed nearby to help defend against any Decepticon attacks. Both men were members of the council as were Glen, Maggie, Sam and Mikaela. Unfortunately, Agent Simmons and Tom Banacheck were advisers to the council. A move that Maggie disagreed with heartily, but as her boss Defense Secretary John Keller told her, it was better to keep the two men close under a watchful eye.
She knew Ironhide and Bumblebee kept both of their optics on the two former Sector 7 agents.
She rubbed her forehead tiredly as she tuned out Glen's voice as he talked on his phone. She really didn't need the events of the evening replayed. Walking a few yards away, the young woman stared out at the dark street. A small breeze whipped her hair around her as she caught a faint sound.
"I'm telling ya man, you should see this hunk of junk! Unbelievable! We're lucky we weren't seriously hurt!"
Concentrating on the faint sound that seemed to further down the road, Maggie shushed her friend.
"Woman, I'm talking here. Don't shush me!"
"Glen, SHUT UP!"
The large man's mouth hung open in surprise at the sharpness of his companions tone. She was staring intensely down the deserted road.
"I don't know man, Mags only told me to hush up." Glen whispered into his phone. A sound caught his ear and the large man paled at the familiar whirring and clicking noise as a transformation took place.
"Uh…Robert…I don't suppose one of the Autobots are near our location, cause I think we have company of the alien sort!" The black man said with panic in his tone.
BOOM! BOOM!
"Oh fuck…." He whispered as a large mechanical humanoid came running towards them, red eyes glowing ominously.
"Glen!"
He responded to the terror in Maggie's voice rushing to her side and pulling on her arm.
"Mags, we gotta go girl!"
Both of the computer geniuses took off running the opposite way keeping to small, tight spaces in an attempt to evade their pursuer.
"Epps, we need assistance NOW!!" The large man said hysterically as a fist crashed into a storefront display right in front of them.
The Australian felt her ankle buckle at her sudden stop to avoid the large mechanical fist and the heel snapped off her left shoe. Kicking both of her shoes off, the blond darted around the large figure of the enemy and dragged Glen away with strength she didn't know she possessed. Wincing as shards of glass from the shattered store window pierced the soles of her feet, she didn't stop running.
She prayed help would come soon.
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Mikaela watched in concern as the young woman lost consciousness.
"Ratch? Is she going to be alright?"
The large medic processed the information from the scan he had done.
"The damage is quite extensive, but if I can get her back to base I believe I can fully heal her."
"Okay." The brunette said simply as she walked determinedly over to the back of the Hummer to pull out the gurney.
Smiling at his companion, the millennia old Autobot positioned his holoform to help. This was one of the many things he lov… liked about Mikaela. She was relatively calm in high stress situations and she was quick on her feet.
He swiftly but carefully loaded the slim figure of the unconscious woman onto the stretcher as Mikaela retrieved the comatose woman's purse from the wrecked car. Working together, in no time the two were back on the road with the beautiful brunette keeping a watchful eye on their patient.
Ratchet careened through the streets, siren wailing as he rushed back to the Autobot base. He switched his holoform to his intangible hologram to conserve energy.
"How is she doing?"
"Not so good Ratch." She opened the purse that had been lying on the bench next to her and pulled out a California state driver's license.
"Her name is Alexis. Alexis Paxter. She is nineteen years old, today." Suddenly tears filled her aqua eyes. "Today was her birthday." She whispered.
"Don't cry Mikaela Banes." The medic's voice soothed unaware that his words angered the beautiful brunette.
"It's MIKAELA!! Why can't you just call me that?!"
Silence greeted her tone and she felt instantly contrite, but stubbornness kept her apology from being vocalized. As the minutes ticked away, the quietness of the ride was oppressive. Still she refused to apologize for her harshness even as her guilt gnawed at her.
Bowing her head she allowed a few tears to escape, unaware that one had fallen to the floor of the Rescue vehicle. Why should she care how Ratchet addressed her? He was thousands of years old and was from an alien species. Seriously, when had she become so infatuated with the medic that she had lost all control of her emotions around him?
Unrequited love really sucked.
"We are here." His quiet voice said startling her.
Her head snapped up and she quickly wiped the tears from her face.
"Okay." She said dully before preparing their patient for the swift trip to the medical wing of the base.
She never noticed the hologram that had observed her emotional pain or the equal look of sorrow that adorned his handsome features.
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A/N: Well there's chapter 2. Obviously this story will be building up and there will be MUCH more to follow. The song referenced in this chapter is "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart. As this is my 1st Transformers story, I am pretty worried that I will screw this up painfully, but all one can do is try, right?
Anyway, let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading everyone!
F.L.
