This is a special update - two chapters in two days, a record for this story :) Anyway, I'll be gone for the next week or so, and I wanted to give my lovely reviewers a little treat before I leave.
Anyway, here is chapter 8. I do not own Transformers: Prime.
"They're coming."
Starscream and Eva raised their head, still keeping a firm hold on the documents but watching in horror as Arthur burst through the door, dirty and disheveled.
He'd left a few minutes ago to check the outdoor storage unit halfway around the junkyard. But now, as he left the door open, Starscream could see the searchlights sweeping across the area and hear the rumble of an engine. Arthur, noticing Starscream's discomfort, closed the door with his foot.
He held two weapons, weapons Starscream remembered clearly as harbingers of pain and fear. They were the same monstrosities that he'd experienced head on, knocked out, and had woken up with a missing T-cog. M.E.C.H weapons were not for the faint of heart, although Starscream's tanks – stomach – churned when he laid his eyes on them.
"Is my dad with them?" Eva asked, frantically grabbing a small duffel bag from under Arthur's desk and shoving the documents inside. She looked up at Arthur for conformation, sighing when the older man nodded.
"He's leading the pack," Arthur added. "But the prize isn't you, Eva, it's him," he pointed to Starscream. "How much leverage do you think he'll be able to gain over both Cybertronian factions? Huh?"
"He isn't laying a servo on me, human," Starscream barked. "And if he tries, I'll tear it off! I am far from vulnerable, you know."
"Big talk, for a man found naked in the woods," Eva snapped. She tossed Starscream the bag and turned to Arthur. "Is there another way out of this dump?"
"C'mon," the man replied, stepping over papers and bags and trash, squeezing down a narrow hallway that ended in a small, white wooden door. He popped the lock and it swung open with ease – Starscream and Eva found that they were staring at a small patch of dirt and then, beyond, a chain-length fence that led to the streets of Jasper.
"Out here," Arthur continued, breathless. Then, he handed the two weapons to Starscream and Eva. "They'll start surrounding the shack in a minute. Go, get out of here! There's a small opening in the fence to your left – just behind that pile of scrap over there."
He pointed, and Starscream followed his gaze. He was right; the scrap metal was piled atop each other, cars that looked as if they'd been squeezed by, well, a giant Cybertronian hand. Gulping, he was yanked to the side by Eva, the girl ushering him behind the stacked vehicles.
"Thank you, Arthur," she'd whispered before. Starscream hadn't seen the man's reaction, though he'd expected it to be something of a smile.
He ducked behind the cars as Eva scooted towards the fence, hearing the bustle of feet, seeing the sweep of a flashlight and the clicking of weapons. He peered around the edge of the vehicle and saw, standing in the spot him and Eva had just been, three green clad M.E.C.H soldiers.
Arthur had yet to move from his position at the back doorway.
"Eva," Starscream hissed. The girl was busy widening the gap that stretched across the fence, making it big enough for both she and Starscream to wriggle through. At the sound of her name, though, she looked up, towards the commotion taking place on the back steps of Arthurs shack.
Silas had stepped into the light, suddenly. He towered over Arthur just as he'd towered over Starscream, though Arthur had much more to be afraid about.
In fact, it was the raggedy, disheveled man who spoke first. "What do you want, Silas?"
"Information. You see, just a few hours prior to this visit, my men intercepted a call from the United States government stating that they had been…hacked. Hacked by a human, no doubt," Silas tilted his head to the side. "It has come to my attention that you are the only human with such capabilities – am I right?"
"Yeah, so?" Arthur chewed the inside of his mouth, seemingly bored.
"My daughter went missing two days ago, Arthur. You're the only viable person in Jasper she would go to."
"I don't know where she is, Silas. Stop wasting my time and please get off my property–"
One dark-gloved hand shot out and wrapped around Arthur's throat. Starscream flinched, and then glanced at Eva. She was still working slowly but, at the same time, watching the scene with a look of terror.
Silas shook Arthur as if he were a rag doll. The smaller man squeaked, the sound more like a mouse than a human.
"If I threaten to kill you right here, right now, will you give me all the information you have?" Silas snarled. When Arthur didn't respond, he gestured with his free hand towards the two three waiting behind him. "Search the building. Now."
The soldiers obeyed, brushing past Arthur on the way in. Arthur snarled and bit and hissed and spat and kicked, but Silas' grip was strong.
"It's a shame. Such talent, wasted. Such potential, wasted. I've spared you before, Arthur, but I won't spare you again," Silas shook his head sadly. "The thing is, though, I made you. I gave you the tools and skills and knowledge – and I can take it away. I gave you a life, Arthur Reed. And I have every right to take that life from you as well."
Arthur whimpered, and then went limp, defeated.
The green-clad soldiers exited the shack, weapons dangling at their hips. They shook their heads, and once again, Silas clicked his tongue in amusement.
"I can always make more of you, though," he shrugged, and his grip on Arthur slackened. "To say, though, that I don't want to is an understatement…"
Arthur gulped, rubbing his sore throat.
"But it is a necessity."
Silas reached out, gathered Arthur's neck into hand, and then snapped it in a single motion.
The man slumped to the ground, offline.
Dead.
Eva made a noise in the back of her throat. She widened the gap, and then grabbed a fistful of Starscream's hair.
"Search the junkyard!" Silas called, stepping over Arthur's body. "Quickly!"
"Go, go," Eva hissed. Her fingers were raw and bloody from where she'd cut them on the metal. As Starscream wriggled his way through the gap, Eva patted his rear for good measure, tossed the duffel bag over the fence, along with the guns. Then she slid in after him, the gesture much easier due to her small size.
She kicked her way through the dirt and accepted Starscream's helping hand before clasping her gun against her hip, helping Starscream do the same. The couple, filthy and unorganized, grabbed their bag and stumbled away from the junkyard, onto the desolate Jasper sidewalks.
When they'd gotten to where the junkyard was just a beam of light piercing the sky, Eva spun, gripped Starscream with bloody hands, and had her lips hug his once more. The move was almost chaste, normal, yet Starscream still loved it.
She pulled away, but Starscream held her close. He was not about to admit defeat when it came to the game that they were trying to play.
Suddenly, he realized that she was crying. Watery liquid clung to his skin and she buried her face into his neck.
"Why do you cry, human?"
"I'm scared."
Starscream watched, biting his lip, the trait so human that, for once, he didn't care.
Didn't care. Didn't think he could care anymore because Eva was right here with him, and she was crying, and for some reason he couldn't think about anything else but the fact that she was in pain and, because of that, he was in pain, too.
Decepticon's weren't supposed to work that way. He chosen the faction a millennium ago and centuries of agony and loss and hardship and humiliation had wiped out anything remotely compassionate about the Seeker.
But he'd never realized that until now, holding a human that he cared so desperately about, being a human that he so much despised…it didn't compute. He was smart enough to see that.
"Primus, this transformation has ruined me," he groaned.
Eva glanced up, wiping away tears. The palm of her hand lay flat against Starscream's cheek, the other reaching down to clutch his gloved hand. She whispered, "Oh, Starscream. Changing species isn't the bane of your existence. There are a multitude of traits you possess that will put you on the list of those wishing to harm lost souls for nefarious reasons."
"I understand," he murmured, pressing his forehead against Eva's. Warmth. How he missed the feeling.
"So be wary, my Seeker, or this terrible world will eat you alive."
They returned to the backwoods of Jasper, retreating into the forest. The sun was up and blazing, afternoon approaching swiftly.
Eva was proposing a plan, as usual. Although her plan was bogus – Starscream wasn't afraid to tell her – he had to agree that at least she was coming up with something.
"We have weapons," she was saying frantically. "Guns. You know what these M.E.C.H guns do to Cybertronians!"
"Unfortunately, I have firsthand experience," Starscream drawled, rubbing his arms, as if even in his human form he could feel the sting of each electric dart. "It's not something I want to repeat, especially in this body."
"Me neither. My dad shot me once, as punishment," Eva rolled up her pants to show Starscream the diagonal scar that ran across her thigh. "Hurt like hell, but at least now I understand why he uses them."
A wry smile touched the corners of Starscream's lips, and he continued to pace, hand holding his chin. Eva watched him as if she were watching a tennis match, head whipping back and forth. She had her legs stretched out in front of her, back pressed against a tree. Off to the side a creek twisted and winded through the densely packed trees.
"I know an old energon mine," Starscream said, "But that doesn't mean–"
"All we need is one, Starscream. It doesn't have to be, like, Breakdown or any of them. It could be a drone."
"Yes, but drones aren't considered valuable. At least, not anymore. We need a Decepticon that would be missed onboard, one that they can't function without…"
"A medic?" Eva said slowly.
"Knockout? That vain afthole?" Starscream barked a laugh. "He's rarely out on the field anymore."
"Fine, then, how about that tentacle-creep that attacked us a few days ago?"
Starscream shuddered and said a simple word. "No."
"Knockout it is, then. Unless you'd rather go running in, guns blazing, in an attempt to subdue Megatron himself?"
"Suicide."
"Exactly," Eva groaned, stretching, and Starscream was gifted with a wonderful view of her midriff. He licked his lips, cheeks blazing red. Then, he turned his back to Eva, fingers laced behind him. The girl said, "We need to find something to eat, first. I snagged some money from under Arthur's desk," she choked back a sudden wave of emotion, "Before he sent us out."
"It isn't safe," Starscream murmured. "Your father is tearing through the town looking for you – us."
"So?" Eva clambered to her feet. "It's only a mile walk from here. And I've avoided my father on more than one occasion, Starscream. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
Something flickered behind her eyes, and she nodded, stepping closer. For a moment Starscream thought that she was going to…lip-hug him again, but she didn't. She patted his cheek and said, "Please, just trust me on this one."
Then she was gone, clambering through the underbrush, disappearing from Starscream's vision.
He stared at the path she had left, still thinking, still wondering. He wished she'd had the nerve to lip-hug him again. He enjoyed it.
Maybe he would be the one to make a move next time.
Maybe.
