Important Information:
"..." Speaking
:...: comm. link
'...'bonded speech
'...' thinking
Astrosecond- 2.5 earth Seconds
Klik- 150 earth seconds/ 2.5 earth Minutes
Orn- 150 earth minutes/ 2.5 earth Hours
Joor- 60 earth hours/2.5 earth Days
Metacycle- 17.5 earth days/2.5 earth Weeks
Vorn- 10 earth weeks/2.5 earth months
Stellercycle-30 earth months/2.5 years
Breem-slang for a moment/minute.
Night Cycle: star down to star up
Day Cycle: Star up to star down
Authors Note: Hurray, chapter two! I would like to thank my fabulous betas as always, Maverick1997 and Brighter Than the Sun, Sunny. As always, you guys rock my socks and gave the chapter its polish.
I would also like to thank everyone who read this story and saved it under their favourite stories list. I would also like to thank DemonSufer, GemDragon22, Starfire201 and -mex.X who reviewed chapter one. I live on reviews so it's always nice to see that people will actually read my stuff. :D
Disclaimer: I own only my OC's, nothing else. Transformers and all characters are owned by other people. Makes me sad.
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Callie McCormick came out of the old farm house fighting the tears that threatened to fall from her blue eyes. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and ignored the rolling emotions that seemed to have knotted in her stomach.
The small female leaned against the wooden railing of the porch and noticed with disinterest that the white paint was peeling and chipping. Her balcony would never have gotten to such a state; she would not have allowed it. Another pang of guilt nearly dropped the women to her knees and she wished her cousin Daniela was with her. Daniela, or Danny, was always the strong one. Her cousin had been the one to pull their small family from the dumps and done what needed to be done in order to survive. The cousins didn't always see eye to eye, but in the end the pair always did what was needed and worked hard as a team to do it.
Callie sighed and dropped her head, her dark blond hair falling over her face. Danny had offered to come with them for support and help get them through the last big loss from their childhood. But Callie had needed to do this alone with Lucy. It was their responsibility to care for the horses, and they would sell them together.
A sudden sob racked her frame and she allowed herself to drop to her knees. It was done; she and Lucy had gone out for their last ride with the horses their father had bought them, the paper work had been signed and now it was time to go home.
The farmer that she had sold the horses to, Mr. Tleato, had boarded the horses on and off for years, so Callie knew the horses would be taken care of. Mr. Tleato had also promised to keep the horses for as long as he could and give the girls a chance to buy them back. But Callie had no delusions and knew it would be impossible with the life style they were forced to live.
Their last ride would be one Callie would never forget; it had been a perfect quiet night when three fighter jets screamed across the sky. Little Lucy, Callie's young sister, had pointed up at the sky with childish excitement; standing up in her stirrups she had squealed in delight that one was painted purple!
Callie laughed through her tears at the memory and pressed her hand to her mouth to help control her hysterics. 'Imagine a jet like that painted purple,' the woman thought as she picked herself up and regained her footing. She took a few deep breaths and wiped away the tears that stained her pretty face. She adjusted her denim jacket so that it fit properly over her body and she walked off the porch, skipping over the last white step.
She marched away from farm house as an odd, loud screeching noise assaulted her ears. Scrunching up her face, she looked skyward but saw nothing. It had almost sounded like a missile, but the sound had come from some place in the distance. Callie dismissed that thought after all, why would a missile be fired in Nebraska? 'Of course,' Callie mused as she walked to the barn, 'what were fighter jets doing out this far into the country?'
The blond shrugged it off, and knew sometimes it was better not to ask questions like 'why is there a purple fighter jet firing missiles in Nebraska?' Nothing good ever came from asking questions like that.
Callie took a deep breath to calm herself as she came to the door of the barn. She didn't want Lucy to see her upset and knew she had to be the strong one this time. The blond pressed her tanned hands flat to the red wood of the door and banged her head against it. "This is bull shit!" she snarled to herself, keeping the crest of her head against the door.
Her hands curled into small fists and she wanted to hit something, preferably the door. But such rash actions were never her style, and the more sensible part of her brain told her that causing physical harm to her hands would do nothing for her. Instead of hitting the door, she pressed it open and stepped into the poorly lit barn.
She spotted her baby sister immediately; the nine year old was sitting on the ledge of the door to a horse pen, with her short legs dangling down the inside. Lucy held her hand out flat to her dapple-grey mare and fed her apple slices as she gently rubbed the horses head.
Callie sighed and walked over to the smaller blond, leaning against the stalls wall beside her sister. In the stall next to the dapple-grey was her own painted gelding. Well Patch used to be her horse, he now belonged to Tleato and so did Cinderella.
Looking over at Lucy, Callie gently said, "I'm sorry Lucy, but we need to get going."
Lucy, who had the same dark blue eyes as Callie, looked up at her sister sadly, "Do we have to?"
"Yeah. It's a long drive back to L.A., and you know Danny will worry if we take too long to make it home," Callie reasoned. Lucy's small head dropped and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. "I know it's hard Lucy. But you know we have to do this."
Lucy sniffed and bit at her lip in an attempt to not cry, "Do you think 'Ella will miss me?"
Callie glanced over at Patch as the brown and white horse chewed on hay, "I think she will, and I doubt she'll love her new owners as much as she loved you." It was a weak attempt at comfort, but there was so little Callie could do and she hated feeling so useless. After a moment of silence, Callie sighed in regret, "We really need to go. Like I said, it's a long drive home."
Lucy nodded and muttered a small good bye to Cinderella. The girl threw her legs over the edge of the stall wall and let Callie pick her up. The small blond buried her face into her older sister's shoulder and began to sob. Running her fingers through her light blond hair, Callie tried to comfort the young girl as best she could. The older blond paused for only a moment to whisper good bye to Patch, and headed for the door of the barn.
However, as Callie reached the door, a terrifying noise had her diving to a corner for cover. The closest thing that could be described as to what that noise sounded like was a train crashing; the sound of steel screaming, snapping and crumpling coincided with shattering of glass and something ripping into the ground. The walls of the barn trembled with the ground, and Callie pushed Lucy tighter into the corner. If the barn should fall, Callie had hoped that her body would protect Lucy enough for a recovery team to save her.
The terrifying noises eventually stopped, as did the shaking of the walls, and an eerie silence filled the night. But still Callie didn't move, not trusting whatever had caused the noise to be safe. She jumped when she heard jet engines roar overhead several minutes later, and the blond couldn't help but wonder if it had been an attack of some kind. There were some crazy rumours that had been spreading over the internet lately, something about robotic aliens and the government. Callie had naturally brushed those rumours off as nonsense and she did so again, but for just half a second she believed that aliens could be the cause of that noise. It was, after all, better than the alternative.
After the jet's screamed overhead, Callie stayed still not trusting herself to not panic. Not moving, for the moment, was safe. A fearsome thud, thud, thud, had Callie shaking hard and caused Lucy to whimper in fright. In a distant part of her mind, Callie thought the thudding sounded like unstable footsteps moving to the road, but again that would be imposable. Fear ate away at Callie's mind, and she would have stayed in the dark corner all night had she not heard someone calling her name.
"Callie! Callie-girl, where are you?" a deep male voice called out from the night.
The familiar voice snapped Callie out of her stunned state, causing her to jolt into awareness. She unsteadily got to her feet, still clinging to Lucy. Looking down at the smaller girl, Callie asked, "You ok?"
Blue eyes, bright with fear, peered up at her. "What was that?"
Callie shrugged awkwardly, still holding onto Lucy, "I don't know."
"CALLIE!" The deep voice called again, drawing the blonds' attention away from her sister. "I'm in the barn Mr. Tleato. We're ok."
Callie used her shoulder to push through the red door of the barn, and moved out into the cool night air. In the not so far distance, it looked as though a bomb had gone off in the field; a fire had started, burning away the hay, the ground was turned up as if a giant had torn at it, and shards of something littered the ground. A strange pink liquid that shimmered in an odd sort of way covered the ground as though someone had bled it. In her trance, Callie didn't see a heavy set man approach her from behind. He laid his hand on her thin shoulder, causing Callie to scream and jump away. She spun around, ready to kick out at whoever was behind her, but stopped when she saw it was Mr. Tleato.
Sagging in relief, Callie heaved a sigh, "Mr. Tleato. You scared the living hell out of me."
The dark haired man pushed his hands into his pockets and gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry Callie. Just wanted to make sure that you and Lucy were ok when I spotted that you're truck was still here."
Callie bobbed her head yes, blond hair bouncing, "Thanks. I… We're ok." Her face was pinched and worried looking.
Tleato nodded, now looking worried at Callie. "You sure you're ok Callie?"
"Yeah. It's just I thought I had heard something. Well something weird." Callie said, turning to look back at the odd pink fluid.
Tleato laughed, "How'd you hear anything during that explosion?"
Callie paused before answering, "It was after. What do you think it was?"
Mr. Tleato, frowned, staring at the fire that ate at his hay field, "I don't know. But I need the fires' put out, so I've called for firefighters and no doubt the police will accompany them."
Callie shifted uncomfortably, she had never had a good run in with the police, "Do you think I should stay and speak with them?"
"Nah, I don't know what you could tell them that I couldn't. You'd better get going Callie." The older farmer said, distracted by his burning crops.
The blond nodded, "You'll take care of Patch and Cinderella. Right?"
Tleato gave her a sad smile. "'Course I will. Take care of yourself Callie."
Giving one last glance at the wreckage, Callie turned and walked to her truck. With her back turned, Lucy peeked over Callie's shoulder to wave good bye to Mr. Tleato, who was staring at his burning fields didn't see the small blonds' sad face.
Callie walked to her large horse trailer and put Lucy onto the ground, "Go get in the truck Lucky, we need to get out of here before the cops get here."
Lucy nodded and ran to the front of the black truck. It had been a gift from Danny after the last job she had done when they have been living in Boston. She had walked into a Ford dealership, pointed at a black F-350 Super Duty truck with the super cab, 4x4 and 16,000 lbs of towing capability and said 'I want that one.'
Callie shook her head as she secured the doors of the trailer and locked them closed. As she walked to the front of her truck she laughed a little to herself, perhaps more because of the adrenalin that coursed through her veins; Danny had paid cash for the truck and it had been the last big purchase prior to her going straight. It was kind of ironic though, Callie finally convinces Danny it's time to do things legally and then they can no longer afford the horses. But sacrifices needed to be made, and Callie wanted to show Danny that it would be okay doing things legally for once. The result was she was selling her horse.
Shaking her head, Callie pulled herself up into the massive truck and settled in to the driver seat. Glancing at her sister, who had curled into the passenger seat, fidgeting with her hands. Callie dropped her hand onto Lucy's head, "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to leave the horses here. It's not safe." Lucy said softly, her voice trembling a little.
Callie frowned, her guilt coming back tenfold, "They've boarded here before, they'll be okay."
The little girl made a displeased noise and looked out the window. Callie sighed sadly and started the truck, it roared to life easily. Casting one last glance at Lucy, Callie easily popped the truck into drive and pulled out onto the gravel driveway. Cassie didn't realize that she popped the truck into the third gear, something she did out of habit, so she didn't notice that the trailer was heavier than it should have been.
She pulled out from the drive way and onto the road, passing the wreckage in the field. She shook her head at the destruction, and knew it was time to get out of Dodge. So deep in thought and worry that Callie didn't even notice a red and gold Lamborghini's streak past her.
() ()()
Thundercracker jerked violently into awareness when he heard a truck's engine scream to life. His red optics snapped on, sparking twice from the left one and glowed as it became apparent it was the only source of light in his dark world. Dazed and confused, he tried to move his once proud frame and pain seared across his entire body for his efforts. He gasped and tried to curl into himself, but his body couldn't compress any tighter within the confines of his enclosure.
Panic gripped the seeker then as he couldn't remember anything from the last few hours, although he was sure he and his trine were going for a flight. 'Have I been captured?' he thought to himself as he pressed his servos to the flimsy walls of his cage and felt along it looking for some kind of indication to where he was. It was so dark he couldn't see anything past his servo and the only light came from the glow of his optics. His panic rose, twisting his tanks in an awful way when he realized he couldn't get out and feel the wind on his faceplates.
Thinking of wind brought about another realization; he was missing a wing and it made him freeze, his mind going black. He was currently a flightless seeker! Flightless! With his pain forgotten in his panic, his intakes hitched. Flightless! Screamed over and over in his CPU.
He curled his servos into fists and prepared to rip his way out of his prison; if he could only feel the wind he would be much calmer he was sure of it. Then a gentle presence curled around his consciousness, sending weak waves of calm and Thundercracker knew it was Skywarp.
The blue seeker calmed dramatically and with his CPU free from the stress, the memories of the last Earth hour came rushing back to him. He remembered how he was shot down and crash landed somewhere in Nebraska. He had climbed into this thing-horse trailer! He climbed into a horse trailer-for shelter.
His frame relaxed, and he sagged in relief. His black helm came to rest against the wall and he grunted as the pain came back to assault his senses. All he had to do was first, get far enough away from Autobot territory, then second, get away from his ride and he'd be home free to contact Skywarp to come get him.
Sending a pulse of love through the bond, Thundercracker closed it off. He would need to think clearly in order to survive the next few human days and he couldn't be distracted by wild emotions from his mate.
Trying to make himself as comfortable as he could, Thundercracker powered down his optics and went back to recharge. 'Hope my self-repair systems get a little further along this time.' The blue mech thought to himself as he powered down for the humans short night cycle.
()() ()
Skywarp dragged his pedes down the dark halls of the Nemesis. It had been a full eight hours since the incident in Nebraska, and the young jet was exhausted. After arriving back at base, Megatron had ripped into the two remaining seekers for 'their stupidity' as Megatron had put it.
Of course the ripping into had been figuratively for Skywarp, and after Megatron was done telling him how stupid he was had sent the purple jet to monitor duty for the next night cycle. That would not have been a problem normally, but the seekers had gone for their flight right after their last shift and they had not gotten their ration of energon. Between a lack of energon, no recharge and doing shifts back to back between a long flight had left Skywarp ready to fall down.
Starscream, on the other hand, and been dealt the brunt of their leader's anger. Where Megatron had only verbally tore into Skywarp, the massive grey mech had done it literally to his Air Commander. Skywarp could only watch in a sick sort of horror as Megatron had rammed his massive fist into Starscream's abdomen, ripping past his thin plating and tore out a servo full of random wires and parts.
Megatron was always one to kick a mech when he was down; when Starscream had fallen, clutching his side in pain and begging for mercy, Megatron had ignored his words and continued his beating. Energon had splattered up the grey mech's legs as he kicked his SIC until he had stopped crying out. Being silent was something Starscream had learned a long time ago would stop the beating faster than fighting back. Although his temper usually got the better of him, Starscream always knew that his leader would grow board if he couldn't hear the pain he was causing.
Once board, Megatron had let the seeker be and allowed Skywarp to drag him down to the medbay for repairs. Hook on his part had grumbled about wasting time on repairs for the 'sub-pare' SIC. The medic even had the nerve to actually ask the teleporter when Megatron would just allow Starscream to deactivate.
"It'll save time and resources." Hook had shrugged as he looked over the damaged frame with disinterest.
Naturally, Skywarp had defended his trine leader and made sure that Hook knew that Megatron wanted Starscream repaired. The teleporter wouldn't have put it past the constructicon to just let Starscream deactivate.
After making sure that Hook had at least begun the other jet's repairs, Skywarp had gone to the communication deck and to do his duty. Near the end of that shift, Starscream had pinged the teleporter to let him know he had made it out of Hook's clutches and was in his quarters. It was a courtesy the seekers had done for each other since joining the Decepticon army.
Once the youngest jet knew his trine leader at least was safe, had gone back to work with a little more vigour. He did, however, continue trying to feel Thundercracker through their spark bond. Skywarp had succeeded only once during the beginning of his shift when he was suddenly hit by such a wave of panic that it caused the purple seeker gasp out loud.
From behind the flier, Soundwave looked up at the sharp noise that interrupted the quite of the communication deck. Canting his blue helm ever so slightly to the side, Soundwave's robotic voice rang out, "Inquiry. What is your malfunction Skywarp?"
Panic assaulted Skywarp from Thundercracker's side of the bond, making it difficult to concentrate on the Decepticons TIC. Sending a weak push of calm to Thundercracker, Skywarp turned to face Soundwave. The large blue mech sat at his console, still and unyielding, waiting for an answer. Blanking his mind like Starscream had taught him, Skywarp began concentrating on something else.
'Energon, Energon, Energon' Skywarp repeated in his mind as he scowled at his TIC. "Human's call them hunger pains. Haven't had an energon ration since last cycle, and I'm hungry."
It was a lame excuse, Skywarp had known but he kept his faceplates in a scowl as his own panic started to build. The teleporter waited in silence as love was sent to him from Thundercracker's side of the bond, warming Skywarp. Then just as suddenly as the connection was made, Thundercracker cut it off leaving the youngest seeker feeling very much alone with the quiet telepath. The silence stretched on into minutes, the purple jet worried that Soundwave would just use his telepathy and pluck the truth right from his processor, dooming Thundercracker and himself.
Eventually Soundwave spoke, "Understood. Current situation is a punishment. Retrieve energon on your own time." With that, the boxy blue mech looked back down at his console and back to whatever he was working on.
Not wanting to push his luck, Skywarp quickly turned back around to his own console. He had been so relieved that the telepath hadn't used his telepathy, and thanked Primus for blessing him for once. It had never occurred to him once as to why Soundwave had not bothered to use his abilities.
The rest of the shift had gone smoothly and Skywarp hadn't been forced to interact with Soundwave again. The second his shift was over, the purple jet bolted for the exit, desperate to get away from the blue mech. In his haste to escape, he didn't see Soundwave shake his head or hear the odd, dry noise that maybe could have been a chuckle from deep in the blue chest.
That was how Skywarp found himself wandering around Nemesis after getting his ration of energon. He hadn't wanted to go back to his own quarters where he knew no one was waiting for him. The F-15 knew that he'd never be able to recharge as long as Thundercracker was still lost out there somewhere, with no bot to help him.
Fatigue was eating away at what little reserves Skywarp did have and he knew he needed to recharge. He had another shift coming in a few Earth hours and he'd never be able to function if he didn't at least get some form of rest.
He did dread at having to recharge alone though. Thundercracker had been with Skywarp for so long that the purple jet didn't think he would be able to recharge without Thundercracker's EM field brushing against his own.
Knowing that he'd never get enough rest on his own, Skywarp had really only seen one alternative and had ended up in front of Starscream's quarters. His red optics stared at the plain grey metal of the door with a sense of dread and foreboding. Fidgeting with his black digits, Skywarp was hit with a pang of worry; he knew that Starscream would not be happy with him being there and be even unhappier at Skywarp's request.
Before he could lose his nerve, Skywarp typed in the seeker override code to Starscream's quarters and palmed the door open. Stepping inside, Skywarp turned for a moment to close and lock the door behind him and turned back to peer into the trine leaders room.
Starscream was laying on his berth deep in recharge across from where Skywarp was standing. The air commander lay on his belly with his arms bent at the elbows and helm resting on his servos. His wings were spread out wide across his back and stretching the width of the berth. Skywarp stood at the entrance way feeling a little awaked at seeing his trine leader in such a state of vulnerability. It didn't happen often and the young seeker was unsure of how to progress.
Clearing his intakes, Skywarp called out in a mock whisper, "Hey, Starscream. Are you awake?"
Starscream's frame jerked a little and a black helm rose from equally black servos, "Skywarp? What in the Pit are you doing in my quarters?"
Dropping ruby optics to the ground Skywarp shifted uneasily, "I can't recharge." he explained, jumping right into what he wanted.
Looking unimpressed, Starscream could only stare at his trine mate, "Why is that my problem?"
"Well, you see 'Screamer, I was kind of hoping that I could recharge here." Skywarp dropped his wings and gave his trine leader his best kicked puppy look.
Still looking unmoved by his trine mate's plight, Starscream scowled and dropped his helm back to his servos. "No."
"Please Starscream?"
The tri coloured seeker turned his faceplates to face the wall of his quarters. "I said no. Go to your own quarters."
"Come one 'Screamer! I can't go into recharge without TC and I have shift tomorrow."
"Again, how is this my problem?" Starscream mumbled, going back into recharge.
"I'm asking you as part of the trine. I can't recharge without TC's EM field next to mine."
Starscream's helm came back up to scowl at Skywarp and a look that was possibly hurt passed over his grey faceplates. "Oh, so you only came here to use my EM field?"
"Well, no. Not like that." Starscream's look darkened, and Skywarp knew he was losing the fight, "Come on Starscream. You know I can't recharge without TC and I don't trust any other Decepticon enough to recharge with."
The trine leader relaxed marginally at Skywarp's admission to trust, but his faceplates still had a dark look. The Decepticon in Starscream told him to send Skywarp away after a good glossa lashing for his weakness. However, the seeker coding had Starscream pulling his wings close to his back and shifting over to make room for his trine mate. Turning onto his side with his back to Skywarp, Starscream snapped, "Well come on, get in."
The purple seeker made a pleased noise and practically jumped onto the berth beside his trine mate. Wiggling slightly to make himself comfortable, Skywarp pulled his own wings in tight and lay on his side. Lying back to back with Starscream, the young seeker sighed contently and happily said, "Thanks 'Screamer."
Their EM fields mixed together, calming even Starscream for at least a little while. "Whatever Skywarp, just remember I'm not Thundercracker. No cuddling."
Skywarp snorted as the SIC's optics dimmed, getting ready to power back down for recharge. Suddenly turning over, the purple F-15 pressed his faceplates into the spot where Starscream's wings joined to white back plates, nuzzling into it.
Starscream froze, his optics brightening with awareness when he felt his trine mate nestling against his back, "Skywarp, what did I just say about no cuddling!"
The purple seeker snickered, wrapping his arms around his own waist. "I'm not cuddling. I'm only pressing my face into your wing joint."
"That's cuddling!"
"Nah-ah. Cuddling involves two parties. Since you're not cuddling back, I'm not breaking your rule."
Sputtering, Starscream pushed himself up onto one elbow and twisted around to stare at his trine mate. "What are you talking about? Of course it's still cuddling, you twit! Now stop it."
Instead, Skywarp off lined his optics and started his recharge protocol. Starscream could hear his trine mate's systems beginning to shut down in preparation for recharge. Gaping at Skywarp, Starscream could only sputter, "Skywarp I'm not kidding! Stop it."
The purple jet ignored his leader, snuggling deeper into the white back and wing plates. Sighing in aggravation, Starscream just gave up. He was far too tired and sore to deal with his juvenile trine mate. Twisting back around, the tricolored jet banged his helm against his berth with a sharp clang before settling back down to recharge.
Shifting slightly, Skywarp quietly asked, "Are you ok?"
The Decepticon SIC sighed, "Settle to recharge Skywarp. I don't want to talk about it." Starscream knew that Skywarp was referring to the day's incident with Megatron. Ego bruised and feeling like slag, Starscream just wanted to recharge.
Frowning, Skywarp settled quietly next to the older jet and yet again whished Thundercracker was with them. He always seemed to know how to uplift the other jet's spirit, and the feeling of incompleteness settled in both their sparks; they did however take a small comfort in each other's presence, even if Starscream would have rather deactivated than ever admit that to anybot. Skywarp on the other hand, instinctively knew the truth.
()()()
TBC...
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