Here's the third chapter everyone. Sorry it's a day late, I had a dispute with myself on how to divide up the scenes for the next two to three chapters. This update is a lot shorter than the others, about half the size, so consider it a sort of filler chapter. I felt the scenes were necessary to check in on the characters current emotional status following Skylar's meltdown before moving onto bigger stuff. Next chapter will likely be larger, so don't worry for those who love my long chapters. Also, since this update was shorter, I won't say when, but I do plan on updating sometime before Friday.
I'm going to answer some reviewers questions at the end of the chapter, so check the bottom when you're done if you had something you wanted to know! Enjoy!
~Chapter Three~
Like A Nightmare
Will collapsed into an armchair in the corner of the room, both mentally and emotionally exhausted beyond belief. He'd just gotten off his cell, and a quick glance at the clock on the wall confirmed he had been on it for hours. Night had fallen as he looked out the window behind him.
The next week or so was going to be very busy, and none of it was going to be easy for him or Skylar. He looked over to her bed, where she was shifting restlessly in her sleep. Her face contorted in distress every so often. He felt bad for her, but there was nothing he could do about that.
Apparently a single moment alone was all it took for memories of that tragic day to come rushing back. The disturbance they'd heard from down the hall as well as Ratchet's own alert state had been all the hint he'd needed. Ratchet and him had come rushing back into the hospital room to find her on the bathroom floor retching and sobbing uncontrollably. Doctor Hilson and Ratchet had both made the call to sedate her when it became clear she wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. She couldn't even breathe right in her distraught state.
She hadn't woken back up since then, even though the medicine had worn off by now. He didn't expect her to anytime soon as he watched her twitch in her sleep, her face clammy with sweat and dreaming about things even he probably wouldn't want to see.
The poor girl couldn't escape this nightmare, awake or asleep.
Maybe tomorrow… it'll get better… Will hoped for the both of them. His gaze shifted breifly to the door as Ratchet's holoform walked in quietly. He crossed the room to Will's side and leaned his back against the window as he took to carefully observing the young woman as well.
"Skylar should be able to leave the hospital in another day or two. They want to keep her on observation a bit longer." Ratchet reported.
Will internally agreed with that decision. After her earlier meltdown, Skylar needed a few days of good rest.
Ratchet turned to face Will, his neon blue eyes tinted with a hint of curiosity. "Have you decided what to do with her once we are ready to leave this town?"
"She'll be coming back home to live with me and Sarah. She's got no place else to go. I wouldn't want her to stay anywhere else after all this anyways. and I wouldn't have it any other way if she did. But..." Will rubbed his face tiredly. "Unfortunately I'll still have to question her about what she saw that night. Having her know about the Decepticons might complicate things."
"We could simply take her back to base with us."
Will snapped his head around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash, then took to staring at the Autobot CMO as if he were insane. "Absolutely not."
Ratchet blinked at the force and negativity behind the Major's reaction. "Why not? It would allow us to better oversee her recovery and treat any trauma from the incident. If she already knows about us-"
"She doesn't want anything to do with the military." He cut in firmly. Maybe she had wanted to once… but that day had long since past. He himself didn't feel the least bit comfortable with keeping her at the military base, and for good reason. "Plus, if she comes to base and sees you guys, after her latest encounter she'll freak out. It's too soon."
"I understand Lennox, and I respect those reasons." Ratchet assured him calmly. "But there are other reasons besides those that I'm concerned about. One of them being that she may have already put herself into the Decepticons sights unintentionally if they were to ever find out her connection with you."
Will signed. "Anything else?" He said, resting his chin against his palm.
Ratchet hummed thoughtfully. "I just have a feeling we should be keeping a close eye on her... Have you noticed what I have?"
"What have you noticed?"
"The hollowness under her eyes, the thinness to her cheeks?"
Will's eyes darted to the holoform in concern. When he had noticed those exact same things earlier he'd thought it had been a side effect of the accident. Now with Ratchet showing interest in these little details he was sure otherwise. "Yes. You think there's another cause for that, don't you?"
Ratchet nodded his head slowly. "To put it simply, she's exhausted. My scanner's are showing her body's been under stress for a prolonged period of time. She doesn't appear to have been eating properly either for her level of activity, if she's been doing the type of work you informed me of. I don't want her current grief to accelerate any of these bad habits. I don't suppose you have any explanation of what would cause her to take poor care of herself?"
Will almost didn't know what to say, but then he recalled a certain phone conversation with his father a little while back that started making more sense now. In hindsight maybe he should have read more into it.
"About a month ago I was talking on the phone with my father, and I had asked how she was doing. He told me she'd been working very hard the past little while... It was the way he said it that bothered me, but when I asked him about it he told me not to worry. I guess now that was a lie." He hung his head when thinking about his father only reminded him of his original plans.
"Lennox?" Ratchet inquired, taking note of his changed demenor.
"I should have gone to visit them sooner. I'd actually been planning to go on vacation for a few weeks as soon as they got the construction on that communications array finished, so I could divide my time both over there and with Sarah and Annabelle."
Ratchet jerked back in shock as the meaning of those words sank in. He bowed his head. "I'm sorry."
He's been so close to being able to catch up with his father after all those years, but he'd been too late. You never knew when one person's day would be their last. He didn't want to have any more regrets to add to his list. He was sure after this that he'd be pushing for more booking leave so he could spend more time with his wife and daughter. It wasn't at all a bad way to look at things.
He'd also been looking forward to seeing Skylar when he'd planned his vacation, but for added reasons. She'd been growing more and more distant over the years, to the point where she didn't even bother picking up the phone to talk to him anymore.
Of course he realized now wasn't the best time to be interrogating her on that quite yet. At least she seemed happy enough to see him earlier, thrilled he'd made the effort, even if she'd been completely confused by why.
I need to find out what's going on inside her head. He'd bide his time for now, but eventually he'd sit down and have a talk with her after she got better. At least he could easily enough now that she was going to be living on the farm.
She couldn't avoid it or refuse opening up now. They'd both lost someone very close to them, and he was tired of her seemingly trying to distance herself from him. He missed his sister greatly, and he reckoned she needed him to be there for her more than she let on. Out of their immediate circle of blood relatives it they were the only one's left. There was no one else to turn towards anymore, just each other.
As for those bad habits Ratchet was worried about...
"When we get her back home I'll ask Sarah to keep a close eye on her, make sure she's taking care of herself properly. Sarah won't let her go downhill if there's anything she can do to stop it." Will was convinced of it, and he undoubtedly wouldn't let it happen either so long as he was around. He took a deep breath and decided to get onto another stressful topic as Ratchet listened intently. "We should be ready to leave in about a week. The funeral is in 5 days. It's going to be a military ceremony, no viewing, closed casket." For obvious reasons.
Will had gone down to visit the morgue earlier. Against his better judgement obviously, because now he realized while his father's death may have been quick, he was quite sure it had been very painful. The body had been crushed and mangled beyond recognition. He'd almost been sick upon seeing it, not an easy feat to accomplish for a soldier. It was a gruesome way to go, exactly the Decepticons style. Everything they did was gruesome and cruel.
"You know everyone will be there to offer their support and respect, both Autobots and humans. You're closest team mates are already making travel preparations to attend the ceremony."
Epps must have told everyone then. That made things infinitely easier."Thank you. It means a lot."
"It's no problem." Ratchet assured easily. "To quote something Optimus would say, since NEST has been created we've all come to know each other well, Autobot and humans alike. We aren't just soldiers anymore, working together to eliminate a common threat." The sincerity in his eyes was undeniable. "We are comrades in arms now, friends even. That's what friends do for one another."
Will smiled at that, the most genuine one he'd probably have for a while. The grumpy medic was right, and the support made him feel just that little bit better. Then he had a thought, and smirked up at the holoform, who now looked guarded and dubious.
"So, that's what Optimus would say."
"Yes..."
"You sure it wasn't just you?"
Silence.
"Slag it, Lennox. Just take the support and don't tell anyone I said that."
Will simply laughed.
Waking up this time was different.
Sure, there were still similarities. My body was still very sore and my head was mildly hazy. My eyes squinted and ached from the overwhelming amount of sunlight that shone through the window, signalling a brand new morning.
The difference was I remembered the previous day's events with perfect clarity. It was like waking into a nightmare instead of from one. My body still ached subtly from the aftershock of the emotional hysteria I'd experienced before those doctors has stuck me with a needle, which I'd figured out quite quickly was sedative.
A part of me wished I could fall back asleep, if just to escape for a bit. But my body had had enough asleep, and there would be no easy escape from the reality I wanted no part in.
My eyes began to prick with tears, a sob trying to rise within my chest as the grief attempted to take over once again. I felt the edges of emotional shock beginning to set in once again as my mind struggled and failed to comprehend an entire life without my father. He'd always gone away for long periods of time, but he would always come back. Not anymore.
The door to my room opened quite suddenly, causing me to jump and blink rapidly to try and clear the tears away. Will entered the room slowly, looking worried as he gently shut the door behind him.
"I see you're awake now." He spoke softly as he walked over and settled into the chair to the left of the bed. "You okay kiddo?"
No, I'm not.
"I'm fine." I cursing silently at how weak and choked that sounded.
Will stared back unconvinced. "You sure?"
I sat up straighter and cleared my throat, being thankful that my voice came out clearer and steadier the second time. "Yeah. Everything's okay."
Will nodded slowly, gazing at me sombrely and crossing his arms. "There are some things we need to talk about...and I know how hard this is going to be, but it can't wait."
I nodded slowly, attempting to keep a calm demeanour on the outside while inside I was intensely dreading this conversation. Nevertheless, I folded my hands in my lap and waited patiently for him to start, trying in the meantime to reach a state of mind that would allow me to view everything subjectively. I didn't want to break down again.
Will gave a large sigh, slumping forward in his seat with shoulders hunched. "Well, first off, the house is a total write off. I've already phoned Sarah and talked about the situation with her. You'll be living at our farm once we are done with everything here."
"Okay." I spoke quietly and uncertainly. "How long am I allowed to stay for?"
Will shook his head in mild disbelief as that question. "As long as you want to. We're family, you don't have to be shy about it. You won't be imposing at all."
It felt weird to think about living there with Sarah and his child. I knew where they lived, but I'd never personally been to the house, and had talked to Sarah on only a few occasions. Still, I didn't have much choice for the moment and Sarah seemed like a decent woman in the few times I had met her, so I accepted with another small nod.
Will continued. "Now, I've talked to the doctor and you'll be released tomorrow morning. You'll still be sore two to three weeks, so he's prescribing pain meds to help you manage in the meantime"
I hummed an affirmative.
"When you get released we'll have to go out shopping and get you some new clothes since the house suffered some fire damage from the propane tanks." Will shot me an amused look at my obvious reluctance. I wasn't a big fan of clothes shopping. His amusement quickly died down, and the tone of the room quickly turned even more serious. That was the only warning for what was to come next.
"Now...about the funeral." He began. He stared at me carefully, gauging my reaction. I tensed a bit but otherwise remained in control.
Just keep it subjective, detached. Don't think about it too closely for too long and everything will be fine.
"When is it?" I asked calmly.
"In five days." He answered. "That should give enough time to contact anyone wanting to attend and give us enough time to plan and sort things out in the meantime. We'll be heading to an airbase right after the service." He averted his eyes down to the floor as his hands clenched into fists. "It going to be closed casket."
Before I even had time to think about what that meant the door to the room opened, startling me. I hadn't even had the mind to wonder where Will's comrade had been all this time as he strolled in casually. Will seemed neither surprised nor bothered by his entrance, as though he'd been expecting the medic to appear.
"Good morning Miss Lennox." Ratchet greeted quite formally.
"Good morning Ratchet." I still shook my head internally at that name. It just felt so unusual to call someone that.
The medic stood at the end of the bed and stared over at Will, waiting for something. My gaze darted between the two of them uncomfortably, a sense of dread washing over me. They both wanted something from me, and I had the distinct feeling I wasn't going to like what it was. Will was the one to start.
"Skylar, what happened that night?"
Shit.
There was no way I could talk about that. Neither of them would believe me if I'd told them the truth of what I'd seen. It was impossible after all... or it was supposed to be.
Unfortunately there was no good excuse to give about what had happened to cause all that destruction or... the death. No reason would be believable enough. The best thing I had in my arsenal was feigning memory loss again. I didn't want to think about it anyways.
"I'm not sure." I started, rubbing by head casually as if it were still bothering me. "All I recall was the ground shaking, then suddenly the whole barn started to collapse over me."
Both men looked highly sceptical. I tried to remain unfazed.
"There was a lot of destruction around the lot, Skylar." Will frowned at me. "You have no idea what could have caused that? Didn't see or hear anything unusual?"
"No." I stated smoothly. "It all just came out of nowhere."
Will went to respond, then hesitated for a moment. He seemed reluctant to ask whatever it was he was thinking. "Then how did you know he had died?"
I gulped, feeling sick, and quickly scrambled for a plausible explanation. There was no need hiding the discomfort this time, either way it was an uncomfortable subject. "I... heard a scream before I was knocked out. When I finally remembered the event last night and your behaviour, I... put two and two together."
I had never been much good at lying, but this time I was sure my story would at the very least be convincing enough to get anyone off my back and let it go. Everything I was telling them were half truths. The only thing I was leaving out was anything involving that... thing. That abomination.
Will started me down hard, searching for any trace of deceit. I wasn't sure what my face revealed.
"If there's something you're not telling us, we need to know. Whatever it is, we'll listen to you." Will pressed on. His eyes were filled with understanding. "Now are you sure that's all you can remember?"
I met his gaze directly. "That's all I remember."
Will responded in the strangest way. He looked over to Ratchet, who had not interfered the entire time, instead taking to observing everything carefully. The medic shook his head subtly, and Will sighed, looking back to me in disappointment which truly baffled me.
Alarm bells rung out inside my head. Had I just failed some test? It shouldn't matter so much that I was twisting the truth, since it wasn't Will's jurisdiction anyways and he surely wasn't aware of the newly arrived being that now lurched the countryside... could he?
I was sure Will was going to call me out on something by the way he was staring, but instead he just dug out his cell phone and stood up.
"Okay. I have to make a call. Just relax and try and get some rest. A nurse will probably be around shortly to serve breakfast." He turned to leave, opening the door and glancing over his shoulder at Ratchet. To my surprise the medic didn't follow, and instead stayed where he was with an almost stubborn air. Will narrowed his eyes momentarily, then appeared to let it go and closed the door behind him.
The room was deathly silent. I refused to look at the medic, but I could feel his stare burning into the side of my head. After a while Ratchet broke the silence, and he was quite direct about it.
"I know you are lying to us."
I flinched, shocked that he was being so bold and straight forward. My reaction right there would have given me away to anyone, but it probably didn't matter much at this point anyways. The way Will had looked to him for affirmation hinted that the medic was a good people reader. He'd have to be for his type of job.
"I'm not lying." I denied anyways, rather futilely. "I just don't remember it clearly."
"You remember enough to say something. Yet you are giving us nothing." Ratchet accused, walking slowly over to the side of the bed, arms crossed and fixing me with a stern gaze. I simply turned my head to stare out the window.
"Yeah, well you guys can't make me say anything. Like the law says, I have the right to remain silent."
Ratchet's eyes widened in bemusement in my peripheral.
"We are not here to persecute you, Miss Lennox. We are here to help you." He stated firmly. He fell quiet for a moment before continuing. His voice grew noticeably softer and understanding. "You know you can't continue to live in denial like this."
I clenched my jaw stubbornly. "I'll deny it as long as it takes."
"And what happens when you must face those memories you wish to forget?"
This man was nothing if not perceptive and realistic. He certainly had a point... But I was barely keeping it together right now. If I talked about anything now I felt I would truly fall to pieces.
My gaze grew unfocused, off in my own little world now and staring out at the green mountain scape forlornly. I needed to stay together, for as long as was possible.
"Then I'll deal with them when the time comes... Not a moment sooner."
A little favour to ask you all... I kind of did a rush job (for me anyways) and threw together the last scene literally a half hour before posting this, so I didn't get time to review it properly (I really wanted to give you guys an update). If any of you notice errors or a section that doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll go back and fix it immediately. Any help is greatly appreciated in advance. Now on to review replies:
LittleManY2K: Thank you! I'm so happy you love my long chapters, because most of them will probably be that way aside from this exception. As for your question regarding Sunstreaker... I can't say how or when, but our lovable Sunflower of Doom will be in this story later on. I don't think it'll be too long a wait. I don't have the heart to tear the two apart permanently.
Guest: I'm glad you liked it! I'm sorry I left you on another cliffhanger, I didn't think it was that bad XD That's reader perspective vs writer perspective I guess :)
Kaylee: Thanks! I'm enjoying writing it too!
Graceful-But-Forgetful-Writer: Firstly, love your username. Secondly, thanks! I'm glad I got the suspense right.
galaxywolf169: Your review made me melt on the spot. I'd like to think I have a lot to improve upon, but it makes me so happy to know when I'm doing a good job. I'm going to try very hard to keep the canon characters as in-character as possible, it's just a matter of getting a feel fo them and their voices, or expanding upon what they may be like (the movies don't do them justice enough, so I'm taking a few of those liberties in this story). I love that you like Skylar. There's going to be plenty of mystery regarding her throughout the entire story. As for the Con... you'll find out soon enough :)
Thank you to the rest of my followers, favourites and readers. You'll hear from me again soon!
Date posted: August 23rd, 2015
