Jack and Arcee stopped by the hospital first, weaving easily through traffic with little disregard. In Jack's mind, they were in a hurry, and while the anger of the humans stuck behind the wheel was palpable, he really didn't give it a second thought.
Arcee's tires skidded across the asphalt, nearly pitching Jack off the side – he kept a firm grip, something both he and Arcee had become accustomed to – and planted a foot against the ground, not bothering to take off his helmet.
The hospital was in an uproar.
Bodies were being rolled away from the scene, police lights reflecting off the shattered glass that littered the parking area, some flaked with dried blood. The double doors to the hospital had been blown off their hinges, crumpled masses that lay smashed into the roofs of two unlucky employee vehicles.
Sires shrieked. People shrieked in pain and grief and fear, the surviving nurses and doctors doing the best they could to salvage any remaining bodies and help the injured.
Not one person paid any mind to the boy lingering behind the scenes, slumped across a blue motorcycle.
"He was here," Jack said dully, voice muffled behind the tinted shades of his helmet. Arcee revved her engine in response.
Quietly, she said, "And you want to go after him? Jack, this is big. Big, even for your father. He's not operating solo anymore."
"You think he's not capable of doing something like this alone?" Jack asked, tilting his head.
"I think he's capable, but not without someone noticing," Arcee replied somberly. "Us. Decepticons. Fowler. M.E.C.H, even, if they're still as active as they were before."
"Uh-huh," Jack said, nodding, watching the scene before him. A woman was writhing on the ground, trying to stem the flow of blood from her two severed legs. Medics rushed in, blocking Jack's view, but her screams pierced the air, as loud as the police sirens and ten times more frightening.
He suddenly felt very, very nauseous. He whirled away and climbed back onto Arcee, gripping the handlebar and trying to calm his pounding heart.
"Jack?"
"Yeah," Jack said shakily. The small screen before him wavered, Arcee's voice filtering through the speakers and laced with worry.
"Are you alright? We can always go back…"
"No. No, I'm sticking with this. We've spent enough time calculating, weighing our options, whatever. I'm not letting my dad get away with this a second time," he dug his feet into Arcee's side, and the femme burst into motion, fishtailing wildly before slipping between two parked cars and leaping out onto the main road.
"Watch out, dad," Jack murmured. "Here…I…come."
"Aaaah!"
June screamed. Howard smashed the branch against her shoulder again, the thick thorns slicing through her gown and skin, cutting deep, drawing blood.
She darted forward, tripped over a branch, and went sprawling out into a snow-brushed clearing. A cold wind hit her, shocked her back into reality, causing her to momentarily forget the blood running down her back and the intense, burning agony in her feet.
"Remember this place, June-bee?" Howard purred. One hand came to touch June's bare back, and she shuddered. "This was where we had our first date – you told Jack about it, right? He knows where this place is?"
"Why do you want to know?" June slurred. Fatigue was causing her to slip, the ground pitching beneath her. Once again, she went sprawling, coughing and crawling like a madwoman.
Towards the lake. The lake that glittered black in the darkness. Icy grass crunched beneath her, wetness soaking through the one item of clothing that she wore, soaking it too the core.
She hoped Howard couldn't see very well in the dark. She was almost tempted to tear the garment off; it was uncomfortable. In any other circumstance, she'd rather have been naked. But this was Howard. This was a…creature. A lust driven creature.
She wasn't going to do that to herself. She couldn't. And in front of Raf…
"Nurse Darby?" Raf's shaky voice called, almost as if on cue, from the firm grip of a Vehicon. "What's he talking about?"
June didn't reply. Her eyes were dead set, so focused that she barely noticed Howard's boots press into the grass next to her head.
"We're here," he said, sighing. He began to fiddle with his watch, ripping it from his skin. He stared, frowning, before saying, "And we have a minute to spare…oh, well, he was never bothered…you know what they say, 'the early bird gets the worm,'" he chuckled, the sound high-pitched and hysterical. He held up the watch, letting the moonlight glint off the metal.
June glared hatred up at him.
"That was a fun walk, don't you think?" Howard giggled, kneeling next to June. He let his eyes rake over her body. He was visibly shaking, fist clenching and unclenching out of some sick desire. He lowered his voice and hissed, "What was I thinking, kidnapping the kid? He's dead weight. I can't do half the things to you that I want to do…"
Silence. June's head hung, for she was lost. Done in. Too tired to carry on. Howard's words slipped past her eardrums, but for some reason her brain refused to analyze them.
And still the agony in her feet and shoulder and stomach and back burned on.
"Kill me," she whispered groggily.
"Huh?"
"Kill me," she said, louder. "Kill me, Howard James Darby. I want you to do it. Right here, right now."
"Oh, not this again," Howard clicked his tongue in annoyance. He took note of June's shivering and tore off his jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders in a seemingly faultless act of comfort. "Baby, I can't kill you. I can't let you kill yourself, either," he stroked her cheek with his knuckles. "You have to meet my master, first."
He glanced at his watch. Thirty seconds.
"I don't want to," June mumbled, hating herself for sounding like a child.
Howard replied by grabbing her injured shoulder – she hissed, but did not allow him the joy of hearing her scream – and hauled her up, gesturing for the Vehicon's to follow. They staggered to the water's edge, June's head lolling back, glassy eyes gazing at the stars.
She got a brief glimpse of Howard tossing the watch into the water, with only five seconds to spare. It sank with a soft plop.
"It should be any moment now," Howard said eagerly, releasing June. She fell into a puddle and cried out.
Almost simultaneously, she heard a sharp whistling noise. She turned just in time to see a Vehicon's head bounce, and then roll towards Howard. The human leaped out of the way as if splashed into the surf, sending up a spray of water that doused June even further.
The object that had beheaded the Vehicon lodged itself into a tree, slicing it clean-cut, punching all the way through.
It was a huge, elegant Cybertronian sword.
June scrambled to her feet, but Howard wrapped his arms around her in a vice grip. Snarling, his head whipped back and forth, scanning the trees.
"Who's attacking?" He howled, spinning around, pulling June with him.
He received an almost immediate answer. Through the trees came a sharp whistling noise, the sound of approaching footsteps that shook the ground beneath June's feet. In the dim light she saw the missile, almost invisible with speed, streak through the air and wavering slightly.
The Vehicon holding Raf was not a target, however the other Vehicon was. The Vehicon flailed away and the missile missed him by inches. The action sent him tumbling into his comrade, both crashing to the ground.
"Raf!" June cried, lurched forward, and was stopped by Howard's strong arms.
The concussive force of the missile, the eruption of heat, seared the back of June's arms and legs, knocking both her and Howard to the ground. A swell of fire melted the light snow and demolished trees, lighting up the clearing, reflecting off the lake's surface.
Despite the debris that rained down upon her, June managed to lift her head, spit out dirt, and see a limping, bloody Raf as he struggled out of the Vehicon's grip.
She kicked away from Howard and ran towards him, heedless.
Rafael screamed as the Vehicon thrashed its way from beneath his comrade, claws stretching…
Blam!
The Vehicon's hand exploded. Little shards of metal dug into June's legs and she fell, shouting. The Vehicon stared at his missing limb, seemingly transfixed, oblivious as his partner writhed his way out from under him.
Pounding footsteps, a vicious snarl, and June saw as massive shape hop over the Vehicon with the missing limb and hurtle into the other, tumbling to the ground, two solid masses of metal. The orange glow from the raging fire nearby provided June with some sense of vision; she saw silver armor and jutting wings and glowing red eyes…
Another Decepticon!
Her fevered brain couldn't make sense of it, even as the silver mech began to dismember one of its own kind with little regard. She cast a glance back at Howard, who was standing rigid, head darting back and forth between the battle and the shimmering lake which, as June stared harder, had begun to bubble.
More thundering footsteps. Another Cybertronian erupted from the forest wielding a single sword, stopping, figure outlined by the flickering flames. June breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Autobot insignia stapled on his frame.
"Nurse Darby, we need to get out of here," it was Rafael, kneeling next to her. His glasses were cracked and his hair astray atop his head. His hands were gently touching June's bloody back, as if trying to urge her to her feet. "We need to get out of here!"
June gulped, and despite the frigid night air and the wet ground beneath her, she was still sweating. Adrenaline. It made her forget the pain in her stomach and back and legs and feet, forget the bruises forming on her beck and waist, gave her the strength to drag herself up and wrap protecting arms around the boy standing next to her.
A low moan caused her to look up. The Vehicon with the missing hand was up, and quicker than June had imagined, was lunging for her and Raf…
An equally large object collided with him in midair. They rolled across the ground, barely missing the second fight – or slaughter fest – that was occurring next to the forest edge.
June backed away, pulling Raf towards her. She gasped when she felt a rough hand on her shoulder, a non-threatening gesture, but at the same time, terrifying.
"Calm it down, babe," Howard muttered. He stood watching the bubbling water, brows creased. "It's almost over."
June squeezed Raf and observed the fight from afar. The silver, winged Decepticon used his claws to render the Vehicon limbless and then sever his head with a cleanly executed blow that left the ground tainted with energon.
The winged Decepticon's head snapped to the side, optics zooming in on the three humans. He mouthed something incomprehensible before leaping towards the Autobot and his opponent, taking long strides. The Autobot had his Vehicon in a chokehold from behind.
The winged Decepticon took his time disassembling the Vehicon, tossing limbs into the raging flames that their way out into the clearing, melting the snow and killing the grass.
It was all over. In a few short minutes, it had ended.
Or begun. June didn't know. Howard's maniacal cackle overshadowed the sound of untamed fire.
"Fantastic display," he clapped his hands, stepping forward. "And just in time. However, I am suffering from just a tad bit of confusion…" he tilted his head to the side. "An Autobot and a Decepticon…together, battling together…what has the world come too?"
"We're just here for the boy, fleshling. And the woman," the Autobot spoke gruffly.
June whispered to Raf, "And who are they? Do you know them?"
"The Decepticon is Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, and the Autobot is Wheeljack. He's a friend of Bulkheads."
"And Starscream?"
"His title speaks for itself. I don't know what they're doing together, though," Raf adjusted his glasses. "They should be trying to maim each other…"
June snorted.
"We're having a party," Howard giggled. He swept his hand behind him. The thin, seemingly invisible chunk of ice that layered parts of the lake had begun to crack, break apart, the sound like soft thunder. Water rushed to the surface, overflowing.
Beneath the thin sheet, something was glowing, rising towards the surface.
"See, Megatron allowed me to survive because he saw my…value. How much I'd meant to Silas and M.E.C.H – in the conventional sense, at least – and he'd allowed me a place in his ranks," he touched his face, and June reared back, startled. He'd lost the bandana sometime during the trip, revealing his black eyes.
Almost black. Blood had seeped from the hidden orb, drying to his cheek. "He punished me," Howard continued. "Ripped out my eyeball…hah!" he doubled over, clutching his chest, body racked with fits of laughter. "As if I needed it. He had that pesky doctor modify it, and then put it back inside me…I can see better, now. I can see all of you better than I could before. Juny," he crooned, "I can see every pore on your skin, every fleck. Your expressions are like magic. And you," he pointed to Starscream with a shaky finger, "I can see every dent, every scratch on your armor…Megatron's doing, I suppose?"
The silver mech stared at the ground uncomfortably.
"And that scar across your gut…what'd you do to yourself, huh?"
Starscream started forward, but Wheeljack jerked him back.
Once again, June's eyes were drawn to the lake. The glow dominated her field of vision.
All the while, Howard was chuckling like a maniac. When he finally calmed, he clasped his hands together and said softly, "You shouldn't have followed us here, Wheeljack," he glared at the Autobot, "Starscream. Because of you, you're all going to die," he giggled. "My master will kill all of you."
In that moment, a massive, clawed hand crashed through the ice, digging into the muddy bank.
Then another. Then the head.
That was when June started to scream.
Jack heard the howl and urged Arcee forward. She skidded down the path, little flakes of snow dislodged from the branches above slapping Jack's helmet, blocking his view. One hand clutching the handlebar, the other coming up to wipe away the blockage, he was able to keep his grip as Arcee's tires slapped through mud.
It was a scream. An inhumane noise, like something from the pits of hell. Like something from his nightmares.
He immediately knew that it was his mother.
Arcee skidded to a stop, and, almost unnecessarily, Jack kicked her side.
"What are you doing?"
"Stopping to make sure you know what you're doing!" Arcee replied, darting forward, nearly sending Jack flailing into the mud. "Listen to me, Jackson Darby, this. Is. Not. A. Game. This isn't Megatron we're dealing with…"
"I know, it's my dad…"
"No. No," Arcee said, voice thick with emotion. "This is something else. This is worse…I…I can feel something in my spark, Jack," her entire frame began to shake. "Oh, Primus, this is so much worse…"
"Arcee?" Jack said steadily.
"We have to turn back."
"No," Jack's mouth was dry. "Push forward."
"Jack…"
"Do it, Arcee!" Jack replied. "You've never been afraid of anything. I've never seen you afraid of anything. You want to protect your partner? We're starting with my mom. She's just as much of a family to you as I am. We're in this together, alright!"
"No bot left behind," Arcee murmured.
"Even of that bot is tiny and squishy," Jack added. He craned his neck, peering through the forest. "I know where they are. I say we have a couple miles to go – maybe less."
"Then let's go," Arcee said. "Oh, and Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you going to do if you see your father?"
Silence. Arcee began to speed up, trees whipping by Jack at lightning speed. It was almost surreal.
Almost.
"I'm going to kill him," Jack said, monotone. "I'm going to throw his body into a fire and scatter the ashes all over Nevada, then see if he can come back from that."