"I didn't mean to snap at Jack like that."
Miko watched as the screen on the dashboard in front of her flickered. She had her legs curled up against her, head resting against the cushioned seat. As soon as they had exited the base and pulled onto the main road, an overwhelming sense of guilt had washed over her.
She'd lashed out. She normally didn't do stuff like that, but today had been difference. Penny's disappearance was like a knife in her heart, twisting, twisting, pieces flaking away one by one.
She'd long since wiped away her tears, but the pain was still there.
"Miko…I understand. I've done the same thing before. You were worried," Bulkhead's voice was calm and soothing. "But that still doesn't justify your actions."
"I know."
"Do you get what I'm saying? Arcee told me that Jack…he isn't doing so well. He's been stressed."
"Yeah, yeah," Miko waved a hand dismissively. "The dreams. He doesn't want to tell Ratchet because he thinks that they're nothing. I want him to feel better, Bulkhead, but he has to actually do something about it."
"Maybe you should tell him that."
"Yeah, right," Miko snorted. "After the way I talked to him a second ago? He probably doesn't want anything to do with me anymore…"
Bulkhead gave a sigh that filtered through his speakers. Suddenly the cab seemed very, very tiny, and Miko could feel her guardians staring at her from every angle. Absently, she pulled her legs even tighter against her body, shivering.
"If he's your friend, he'll accept your apology. You remember Wheeljack, right? Well, he and I used to get into all sorts of arguments. But he forgave me, because we were friends," Bulkhead chuckled. "Just like I'll always forgive you."
"Well, Bulk," Miko patted the dashboard affectionately. "You'd have to anyway. You're kind of stuck with me," then, she gave a small frown. "What would you and Wheeljack argue about, anyway?"
"Oh…senseless stuff, really."
Miko cocked an eyebrow. She knew by his tone that he didn't want to talk about it, and her initial instinct was to poke and prod him further. But, for once, she kept her mouth closed and crossed her arms, easing her legs out so that they touched the floorboard. "Penny and I argued," she said. "Mostly about boys. Nothing seriously friendship-damaging."
"I'm sure you'll be right back at it, sooner or later. We'll find her Miko," Bulkhead assured her. "Agent Fowler will be all over this case. It just stinks of…well…"
"Decepticon's?"
"More like human intervention. I'm no detective, but even I can tell that this is a bit fishy. Especially for a safe, sheltered place like Jasper."
Miko nodded. As they sped past open desert, she couldn't help but reach out and, once again, pat Bulkhead's dashboard.
"Thanks, Bulk," she said, smiling. "You probably didn't want to sit through that sob story, but…"
"Hey," he answered. "That's what friends are for, right?"
Miko smiled for the first in what felt like days.
"Wake up, girl."
Someone was slapping her. Bashing her cheeks between two calloused hands.
"Wake up!"
Penny awoke.
The hot beam of white light hit her like a bullet and she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut once more. Splashes of red danced across her vision, and her tongue felt dry, as if someone had shoved cotton down her throat.
She sputtered. Coughed. Dared to open her eyes and survey the scene before her, the last traces of light fading from her vision.
A lit bulb hung overhead. The room was dank, beads of water dripping off the stone walls. They were underground, she presumed, and she was sitting upright in a chair, hands bound tightly behind her back. The cool metal was stretched so taut that it cut through her skin when she tried to move, and drew blood.
She hissed.
What was going on?
Where was she?
She fluttered her eyes and looked up. Standing partly in the light, strands of dark hair hanging over his eyes, was a man. Middle aged, it looked. Structure gaunt, skin pale like a ghost. The gleam in his sparkling eyes was that of a rabid dog, or a disheveled lion.
It seemed as if that was his permanent expression. Lips pulled into a thin line, he tilted his head to the side.
"You're awake."
Way to state the obvious.
His lips split into a grin, though not the type full of genuine happiness. It was if Penny were the zebra and he…he was about to somehow devour her.
She tried to wriggle out of her bonds. "Who are you?" She asked in panic. "Where am I?"
"Who am I?" He extended a hand, and then realized that Penny's own appendages were somewhat caught up. "Howard Darby. Where are you? It doesn't matter, because this room is the last place you'll be, or, um, the last place you'll ever remember being."
Penny opened her mouth. Darby? Of course fate should dictate that it be Jack's father. She didn't know the entire story behind the reason his father had left, just that he had, and Penny was to leave it at that.
Now she understood why Jack's mother had kicked her husband out.
If that revelation wasn't enough, the fact that she had no idea where she was or how she'd gotten here seemed to paralyze her for a second. She remembered driving. Yeah. Driving to the store and buying some milk, eggs, maybe a bit more…
She'd walked to her car. Someone had parked beside her, a green vehicle whose door had been way to close…
They'd opened their doors and…
Yeah. She'd been snagged then, she assumed. They'd fired a silent shot from their guns and had hauled her limp form into their car.
Nobody had even seen it happen.
And now she was here, listening to a madman spew crap. She cursed silently and struggled against her restraints some more, but that drew even more blood and she found herself stifling back a sudden, inevitable sob.
"What's the matter?" Howard quirked a finely trimmed eyebrow. "I'm not a bad man. Really, once you get to know me I can be so. Much. Fun."
Penny twisted her hands once more and the blood dripped onto the stone, little drops blossoming against rough granite.
"What do you want me for?" She hissed.
Howard waggled a finger, delving back into the shadows. Penny squinted and could make out a table in the corner littered with tools. Pliers. A long, curved scalpel. Something that looked like a blowtorch. Gloves. An IV.
He pulled on a pair of plastic gloves, and then skipped over the rest and picked up something nestled on a small piece of paper. Holding it between his two fingers he emerged back into the light, leaning down so Penny could get a better view.
It was a sphere, no bigger than her fingernail. A red dot marked the center, twirling, and Penny could vaguely hear the sound of twisting gears…
He thrust it close to her face and she reeled back, lips twitching upward in disgust.
"You're a fan of technology, I presume? I was looking over your records and you seem like quite the mechanically gifted little girl," a chuckle. "If so, then you'll just adore what I have in store for you. Miss Reed, was it? Or do you prefer that I call you Penny?"
Throat dry, voice barely above a rasp, she answered, "Penny. Call me Penny."
Howard nodded in understanding, and then tapped his finger against his chin in thought. The other hand clenched around the metallic sphere, and he said, "Whatever suits you. Anyway, Penny, this little device I have right here," he shook his curled fist. "I call it a mindeater. Appropriate title, huh? I created it myself."
"What does it do?" Penny dared to ask. She stared into the eyes of this madman and saw no hesitation, no remorse as he answered her question.
"It's a parasite, really. I can control everything, Penny," he unclenched his fist and there, nestled in the dip where two fingers met, was the sphere. "More importantly, I control you. What you do. What you say. How you walk and where. I could use you for my own selfish pleasures, but you know what…" He gave a saddened frown. "I have other people I must please. And you, Penny? Well, you should be honored. You're the first step to a new era of peace."
He walked around Penny's chair, slowly, each step calculated. He ended up kneeling beside her, gripping the back of her shirt and pulling to reveal the back of her neck. He brushed away her hair and pressed his thumb against the soft flesh, feeling, clicking his tongue as he did so.
"This is the spot," he whispered, his words a breath against Penny's ear. She couldn't move, couldn't speak because the fear was getting to her now, clouding her mind and transforming her into some type of vegetable. She should have reeled away from Howard's touch but she couldn't, each movement causing the metal to dig deeper into her wrist and draw more blood.
"Now," he said, clapping his hand together and Penny felt the urge to curse, to spit in his direction. "Let's get started. I'm on a tight schedule, so we need to kick this off as soon as we can."
He waved a finger.
Penny heard a door open behind her. More light flooded the room and long abandoned light bulbs overhead flickered into existence, magnifying the twinkling stone walls around her. She squinted, getting used to the light, as well as the flood of visitors. They'd been standing in the corners the entire time, watching her display of…well, fear. They were masked in green, faced hidden behind thin fabric. Emotionless eyes stared from behind dense lenses and Penny, out of sheer terror, gave a scream as they rushed towards her.
Metal clinked together and out of the corner of her eye Penny saw Howard rummaging through the tools on the table. He came unfurled a ratty piece of cloth and walked over.
Penny screamed again.
I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie
Over and over in her head she shouted.
She thought of her mom. Her two brothers, one in college the other graduating. Her father, who she barely got to see because he worked far, far away.
She thought of Miko. Oh, god, Miko. And Jack. And all her friends at school, despite the fact that they were few in number.
She would never see them again.
PleasesomeonehelpmepleaseIdon'twanttodie….
She opened her mouth to scream again but Howard was suddenly kneeling in front of her, shoving the cloth into her mouth. Her words came out muffled, barely above a groan.
"Hush, hush," he cooed, holding her head between his hands, massaging the flesh of her cheek. "There's no need to make any noise," he jerked his chin towards the nearest goon, and they, in turn, lifted her hair away from her neck.
Penny felt something cool press against her flesh. She thrashed around and the man cursed, the pressure was suddenly released.
"Keep her still, Darby," someone snarled. Howard, rolling his eyes, focused a pair of bright eyes on Penny's face, cooing words of comfort.
"It'll be alright, Penny," he whispered. "All you'll feel is a little prick. Like getting a shot or…or getting your blood tested. And then, whoosh! All your problems are gone. You won't remember a thing, Penny girl. You won't remember this meeting or…or anything anybody's ever done to you. You won't even remember who you are…"
More pressure. Another attempt to scream.
"Just press the button," Howard crowed.
Penny felt the needle, the thin piece of metal, slid into her neck. She twitched, as if she had been shocked, but Howard kept a firm grip on her head.
Someone started to burn. Something wet, trickling from the needle. It took Howard's gasp from behind her and the thug's sudden cry to realize that it was working. It was eating. Digging, digging into her flesh and Penny tried to scream, but nothing came out. She felt the blood trickle down her back and onto her shirt. The pressure had increased, tenfold, and she could feel, and hear the thing burrowing past layers of cartilage and muscle, sinking like a snake towards the center of her back.
"It's working," Howard said, his voice barely a cry. Penny's vision was fluctuating wildly, Howard's face shifting into view, and then out of view, and then in and out and…
The realization that the creature was latching onto her spine, sinking invisible teeth into the bone and shocking her senseless caused her to scream, even with the gag.
Howard smiled.
"How's that for ingenuity?" He gave her cheeks and squeeze and she, barely clinging onto consciousness, let her head tilt back and her eyes roll into the back of her head. As her last shred of sanity slipped away, stolen, she heard Howard utter four words she would never remember.
"Welcome to M.E.C.H, Penny."